Kindred Spirits
by Amaranth Traces
Summary: SamDaniel UST/pre-ship. Sequel to Tortured Soul. Sam learns that someone else received the fate Cronus intended for her, and that's just the beginning of a very bad day. An AU of Double Jeopardy and Exodus. This trilogy is concluded with Entwined Hearts.
1. Chapter 1

**Kindred Spirits **

_Genre:_ Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Action/Adventure_  
Pairings:_ Sam/Daniel UST/pre-ship  
_Spoilers:_ Everything up to and including Exodus, plus smallish references to Ascension, Summit, Chimera, and Citizen Joe.

_Season:_ Four, starting just before Double Jeopardy and ending just after Exodus**  
**_Rating:_ T for violence and some language  
_Disclaimer: _The only thing I own that's related to Stargate is my DVD collection. I'm not making any money off of Stargate. In fact, the reverse is true.

_Summary:_ Sequel to _Tortured Soul_. Sam learns that someone else received the fate Cronus intended for her, and that's just the beginning of a very bad day. An AU of Double Jeopardy and Exodus.

_Too lengthy author's note:_ This story **does not stand alone**. It continues the AU _Tortured Soul_ creates and is the second instalment of what I intend to be a trilogy. I strongly recommend that you read _Tortured Soul_ before you read this story.

Also, this story is told with the same style as _Tortured Soul_ – alternating first-person points of view between Sam and Daniel. Odd-numbered chapters are from Sam's POV and even ones are from Daniel's.

Last but far from least come my thank yous. Thanks to Jess13, NyxRo, and Martin for giving me the encouragement I needed to get this story finished. Thanks to Terelou for similar encouragement and for helping me lure my beta out of hiding. And special thanks to Thraesja, my illustrious and sometimes elusive beta, whose comments and suggestions never cease to soar high above my expectations. Hmm. Maybe it's time I raised that bar...

**-- Chapter 1 -- **

I woke with a start to the loud buzzing of my alarm clock. Blearily, I reached over to switch it off and turned my face into my pillow with a contented sigh. The entire night had passed without a single nightmare.

A faint, tinny groan brought my attention to the telephone receiver still clutched under my chin. I rolled onto my back, bringing the phone to my ear, and smiled.

For a few moments, I listened quietly through the phone as Daniel woke up. "Good morning," I said.

There was another groan, louder this time. "Mmffssam?"

I couldn't help but laugh. Daniel was fun to talk to before he got his morning coffee.

"Da-niel," I said in a sing-song voice.

I heard him chuckle softly. "M'rn'g." His voice was rough with sleep.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Mmm."

I smiled. "Good. Me too."

Ever since the Colonel, Teal'c, and Daniel had rescued me from Cronus's base four months ago, I'd been having difficultly sleeping. Nightmares. They were part of the job description, really. I knew all of my teammates had them. Well, except for Teal'c, but that was just because he didn't sleep.

Since then, I'd been relying heavily on Daniel's strength to help me recover from that ordeal. For the first three months, I had found myself at his apartment nearly every night because I was unable to sleep in my empty house.

He was incredibly understanding and supportive. We'd order delivery and sit up watching television or movies, or just chat about anything and everything until we fell asleep on his sofa. I knew that wasn't something I should get used to. So, for the last month or so, I'd been weaning myself off it. Daniel had never complained, but it wasn't as if I could expect him to put his entire life on hold just because I'd had a bad experience off-world. It wasn't fair to him.

I'd started spending more and more nights on my own. In my own bed. In my own house. Alone.

The frequency of my nightmares had increased at first, but they were now subsiding again. Once in a while, I'd call Daniel after either a nightmare or several hours of tossing and turning. We'd talk on the phone until we both fell asleep. Then wake up just like this.

I really couldn't imagine having a better friend than Daniel.

Last night, he had been the one to call me. It'd happened a few times. As I said, nightmares were part of the job. And it seemed that his phone call had helped both of us last night.

Rolling my head on the pillow, I checked the time and groaned. "I gotta have a shower."

"Mmph. Shower." He was making vowel sounds now. That was good. Soon, he'd be awake enough for actual sentences.

"I'll see you at work, okay?"

"Ugh. Work."

"You remember. That place we go every day under that big mountain?"

That made him chuckle again. "Vaguely."

"Good. Up and at 'em. I'll see you there. Bye."

"Bye, Sam. Thanks."

I smiled as Daniel disconnected the call. With a stretch, I sat up and hung up the phone. I slid my feet into the slippers waiting for me on the floor beside my bed and shuffled my way to the bathroom to start getting ready for the day.

An hour later, I was in my office waiting impatiently for my coffeemaker to finish. As it started its final gurgle, I heard someone enter my office behind me.

"That sure smells good."

I smiled, pulling both my and Daniel's mugs off the shelf next to my coffee machine. "It should. It's yours."

Daniel leaned back against the shelf, his arms crossed over his chest, and looked at me with wide eyes. "You raided my secret coffee stash?"

"Well, you do keep it in my filing cabinet."

"Only because Jack won't look for it there. You know what happened last time he found my coffee."

I laughed as I poured two mugs of Daniel's special blend. "That was priceless."

"You only say that because it didn't happen to you," he grumbled, taking the mug I handed to him. "Thank you." His eyes closed blissfully as he took a sip.

"You're welcome," I said before taking a slow sip from my own mug.

Daniel smiled at me. "For everything," he said softly.

I returned his smile. "No problem."

Talking Daniel to sleep last night was the least I could do after all he had helped me through. I was happy to do it. And to be perfectly honest, it had helped me as well.

A voice came over the base's loudspeakers. "Unscheduled off-world activation!"

"I don't suppose there's a chance that won't be for us," I groaned.

Daniel shrugged. "It could happen."

The loudspeakers crackled to life again just seconds later, this time with General Hammond's voice. "SG-1, report to the briefing room."

"Just maybe not today."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Maybe not."

Daniel and I were the last to arrive in the briefing room, so we quickly took our seats. Colonel O'Neill smiled cheerfully at us from down the table, and Teal'c nodded his greeting. Two members of SG-8 were seated on the other side of the table. I was sure that they were supposed to be off-world right now. They must have been the unscheduled travellers.

"Alright, folks," said General Hammond. "On their mission yesterday, SG-8 discovered evidence of a long-dead society on PK4-808."

I smiled as Daniel leaned forward over the table, clearly interested in hearing more.

"That's right, sir," said Major Conrad Jankowicz, engineer of SG-8. "The village we found is just over half a click from the stargate. Doctor Bedard can explain what we found better than I can." He nodded to his team's linguist. "Julie?"

"As far as I've been able to determine," said Doctor Bedard, "the people on PK4-808 died out a long time ago. They suffered a series of natural disasters and finally succumbed to a disease that swept through the entire population. I believe that the few who survived longest created a monument detailing the events before their deaths." She glanced up at Daniel and then down at the table. "In addition to the monument, we found what we think might be a vault."

"Vault, eh?" Colonel O'Neill looked up with interest. "A weapons' vault?"

Jankowicz shook his head. "Sorry, sir. No sign of weapons of any kind."

Bedard slid several large pieces of parchment paper across the table toward Daniel. "I brought some rubbings of the writings we've found on the monument. The forms are very close to neo-Sumerian."

I studied Doctor Bedard. She was relatively new to the SGC, having arrived just over four months ago. I hadn't spoken with her yet, but I knew from her personnel file that she was a civilian linguist with an expertise in comparative philology.

"They got any fancy doohickeys that do cool stuff?"

Major Jankowicz shook his head at Colonel O'Neill. "We haven't seen any evidence of advanced technology at all, sir."

"I suspect the vault contains artefacts of historical significance. But..." Bedard looked across the table at Daniel with a smile. "We haven't been able to get inside."

The Colonel scratched his head, glancing at General Hammond. "Look, not that this isn't...absolutely fascinating, but if there are no people, no weapons, and no technology, why exactly do you need SG-1's help on this?"

Doctor Bedard shook her head, her red curls bouncing around her face. "Well, actually, sir, we don't. We just need Doctor Jackson's help."

"Ah." Colonel O'Neill leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

If his raised eyebrows were any indication, General Hammond was equally surprised. Bedard probably should have made that clear before she had him call us all into a meeting.

Bedard blushed and ducked her head. "I, uh, I thought that Doctor Jackson's significant skills and experience dealing with alien languages would be immensely helpful."

Major Jankowicz appeared to bite back a grin before taking a decided interest in the wood grain of the conference table. Daniel spared Bedard a glance and a modest smile as he squinted at the pages she'd given him.

"SG-1 doesn't have any scheduled missions for the next two days," said Hammond. "So, unless you have any objections, Colonel?"

Colonel O'Neill looked over at Daniel, who was still engrossed in the rubbings. I gave Daniel a little nudge with my elbow, and his head jerked up. He turned to the Colonel's expectant gaze and nodded.

Doctor Bedard's face broke out in a broad smile. Her eyes darted to Daniel, then to the table, and back again. I frowned at her.

The Colonel nodded to General Hammond. "Alright. They can borrow him." He wagged his finger at Major Jankowicz across the table. "But I want him returned in the same condition he's in now. No scrapes, bruises, cuts, bumps, burns, stab wounds, bullet holes, chemical imbalances, involuntary escapades, voluntary escapades—"

"Jack," Daniel groaned.

Teal'c clasped his hands on the table before him. "I believe you should include the avoidance of alien possession and brainwashing, O'Neill."

"Teal'c!"

"Excellent point, T." The Colonel pointed at the Jaffa before continuing to count off on his fingers. "No possessions, brainwashing, memory loss, false memories, bad memories..."

Daniel's head dropped into his arms on the table with a muffled thump. "Thank you, Jack," he moaned. "That's enough, please."

"What? I'm listing my requirements for lending out a member of my team. A particularly accident-prone member with a proven inability to stay out of trouble." He turned back to Jankowicz. "And hang nails. No hang nails either. Got it, Jankowicz?"

The Major smirked. "Yes, sir!"

Daniel lifted his head and gave me a desperate look. I was afraid I might bite my tongue right off in my effort to keep from laughing.

"Alright then," said General Hammond. "Doctor Jackson, Major Jankowicz, Doctor Bedard, be ready to depart for PK4-808 in half an hour." He stood up and everyone at the table followed suit. "Dismissed."

As the General returned to his office, Doctor Bedard came around the table.

"Doctor Jackson," she said, taking Daniel's hand in hers and shaking it. "I'm so excited that we're finally going to be able to work on a project together."

Daniel cleared his throat as he pulled his hand away to straighten his glasses. "Uh, please, call me Daniel."

Bedard giggled. Actually giggled. "Only if you'll call me Julie."

I studied the young linguist critically. She seemed pleasant enough, but for no apparent reason, I didn't like her.

"I'd better go get my gear together for the mission," Daniel said, nodding to Bedard and Jankowicz.

"We'll see you in half an hour, Doctor Jackson." Jankowicz took Bedard's arm and began to steer her out of the room. "Come on, Julie. Plenty of time for you to talk to him on the mission."

As the two members of SG-8 left the briefing room, Colonel O'Neill clapped his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You better not get into any trouble out there, Danny-boy."

"It's just a vault from a long-dead society, Jack. It's not like I haven't spent my life doing this kind of thing."

"I am certain you will quickly open the vault and discover the secrets within, Daniel Jackson.

"Thanks, Teal'c. But I won't be discovering anything unless I get my gear together."

"We'll see you when you get back, Daniel." I gave his arm a little squeeze. "Be careful."

He gave me a reassuring smile. "I will."

An hour after Daniel's team left, the Colonel, Teal'c and I were giving our regular project updates to General Hammond when the off-world activation claxon sounded again. I was in the middle of explaining why I wanted to run a high-level diagnostic on all secondary gate systems, so I was a little disappointed at the interruption. Colonel O'Neill seemed absolutely delighted.

Once we got down to the control room, his delight was quick to fade as we realised that Harlan was trying to contact us. Much to the Colonel's chagrin, General Hammond ordered the iris to be opened, and the android that had duplicated SG-1 three years ago came through the gate.

Harlan told us that our android doubles were going on missions through the stargate. General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill were not happy to hear that news.

"Colonel O'Neill," said the General. "It was my understanding that the robots agreed to bury their stargate and never leave their planet."

"Yes, sir."

"Then it would seem your robot counterpart is equally good at following orders as you."

Across the table, Teal'c raised a silent eyebrow at me. I tried to swallow a smirk, but I had a feeling I wasn't entirely successful.

As it turned out, the androids were already sixteen hours overdue and only had eight hours of power left.

Colonel O'Neill turned to Hammond. "General, I really don't think we're responsible for retrieving these robots."

"But you must!" exclaimed Harlan. "They are you!"

"Not me they're not!"

"Where is Doctor Jackson? He will help."

I gave Harlan a sympathetic look. "He's on a mission at the moment."

"Ohh..." Harlan wrung his hands in obvious distress. "You do that so much!"

General Hammond didn't order us to take on the mission, so Colonel O'Neill turned it down. But after Harlan showed us the address the android versions of us had gated to, I recognised it as a planet we had already visited.

The people of Juna had agreed to bury their gate after we had liberated them from the forces of Heru'ur. But when we dialled the address, the stargate engaged. Their gate wasn't buried.

Teal'c suggested that another Goa'uld might have travelled to Juna by ship and restored the stargate, possibly to claim the planet for strategic military position. It was a problem. We had told those people that they'd be okay. General Hammond ordered a MALP be sent through to see what was going on.

The static on the computer monitors before me flickered into an image of Juna.

"Receiving MALP telemetry," I said, panning the camera left to get a better look at the area surrounding the stargate.

A tall Jaffa was standing behind a large stone, his staff weapon aimed at the MALP. Suddenly, a zat blast hit him, and he fell to the ground.

I turned the camera in the direction the blast had come from, looking for the shooter. Colonel O'Neill, or rather, the android version of Colonel O'Neill popped into view. He peered into the camera, looking tired and anguished.

"Whoa," said the Colonel from behind me. "I'll never get used to that."

The General activated the microphone near him. "This is General Hammond of the SGC."

"George!" The android Colonel's eyes closed briefly. "Good. Who else is there?"

"Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter—"

"Carter, you okay?"

"I'm fine, uh..." I briefly glanced at the Colonel O'Neill who was standing behind me before frowning at the one on the monitor. "Sir."

"Good, that's good." The android sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Congrats on the promotion."

"Thank you."

"Harlan is here as well," finished General Hammond.

"Damn it, Harlan! I told you—" The android must have heard something, because he abruptly turned around, aiming his zat at the surrounding forest.

A man emerged from the silvery-leaved trees, one hand in the air. "Do not shoot! I wish to help you," he said.

"Yeah," said android-Colonel, not lowering his weapon. "Sure you do."

"It is the truth. I now believe what you have said about the gods. Please, I ask that you trust me as I am now trusting you."

On the monitor, Colonel O'Neill's stance became less tense.

"I am sorry about the one called Carter," said the man.

The android sighed and waved the man closer. "Get over here."

"To whom are you speaking?" he asked.

The man walked closer, and I could finally identify him. "That's Darien," I said. He was one of the people who had fought with us to drive Heru'ur's forces from Juna.

"Earth," answered the android Colonel. "George Hammond and the other SG-1."

"Hey!" Colonel O'Neill leaned over my shoulder, glaring at the monitor. "You're the 'other', pal."

"Do we really have time for semantics here?"

"What exactly is the situation?" asked General Hammond.

"Our Carter is dead."

"Oh my goodness, no," moaned Harlan.

I could hear the Colonel and Teal'c shift slightly behind me, but all I could do was blink at the monitor. Hearing a report that I was dead was just...weird.

"Cronus killed her. Really seemed to have a bone to pick."

I swallowed hard, fighting the sour taste of bile that was rising in the back of my throat. I was afraid to even think about what punishment he had dealt my android double, believing she was me.

"He's got a ship in orbit," continued the android Colonel. "His Jaffa are everywhere, and Daniel and Teal'c have been captured. So it's just Darien and me."

Darien looked directly into the camera. "Please, help us."

I glanced at Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. They were both staring at me. A hand came to rest on my other shoulder, and I turned in that direction.

General Hammond was giving me a questioning look. "Major?"

I nodded to him, grateful for his concern. "I'm good to go, sir."

He looked over at Colonel O'Neill, who shrugged. "You have a go," the General said. Into the microphone, he continued, "SG-1 is on its way."

We discussed possible plans of attack while preparing for the mission. Just minutes later, we were stepping through the gate to be greeted by Darien on Juna. He took us to meet the android version of Colonel O'Neill.

The Colonels immediately started arguing with each other. It was fascinating, really. The android Colonel had exactly the same personality as the original Colonel, and the same memories up to the point he was created.

Watching them argue was putting all sorts of ideas in my head that I knew neither of them would appreciate. Ideas like locking them in separate rooms and doing behavioural experiments on them. I'd have to save that thought to give Janet a laugh later.

When the disagreement turned physical, I decided to step in. "Sirs."

They both looked up from the headlocks they had each other in.

"As much as I'd like to see how this plays out, don't we have something more important to do?"

A horn sounded from deeper in the forest. "It is not safe to stay here," said Darien. "The forests are heavily patrolled."

As we followed Darien through the woods, the android Colonel fell back to walk next to me.

"It's good to see you," he said quietly.

Morbid curiosity won out. I had to ask. "What did he do to her?"

He studied me for a moment before continuing to scan the surrounding trees. "Grabbed her by the throat, slamming her against the nearest wall. And he squeezed." The android grimaced. "I've seen the Gould do some unbelievable things. But this was..." He glanced at me again. "He ripped her head right off her body with his bare hands."

I winced.

"What did you do to get him so grouchy, anyway?"

Deciding not to answer that, I shrugged. "Can she be repaired?"

"Don't know. She taught us all a thing or two about how we work, but it's still not really my department." He kicked at a stone in the path. "It probably doesn't matter anyway. Cronus had her body taken up to the ship. God knows what they've done with her now."

We walked the rest of the way in silence, keeping an eye out for any of Cronus's Jaffa.

"So," the android said as we ducked through the entrance to Darien's home. "What's this brilliant plan of yours?"

Colonel O'Neill scowled at him. "It's simple, really. We're going to kill Cronus and steal his ship."

"Oh!" The android rolled his eyes. "That simple, is it?

"You got a better idea?"

"Just how exactly do you suggest we get on board the ship?"

Darien sat next to me and Teal'c on a bench. "Cronus and his Jaffa trust me. He sent me and many others to search for him." He gestured to the android.

"See?" said the Colonel. "A plan. We bring something Cronus wants, and they just let us in."

The android sat down at the table, his back to us. "Well, isn't that just great."

"We could always commandeer a cargo ship and fly up to the Ha'tak," Colonel O'Neill said, picking up a pillow and poking at the beaded flowers on it.

The android sighed. "There aren't any on the surface."

"Well how do you suggest we get up there? Ask them politely?"

The android shook his head, not rising to the bait of another argument. "The only rings I've seen were in that pyramid."

"There is a way into the main chamber," said Teal'c.

"Yeah!" Android-Colonel turned around to look at us. "By putting the robot at risk."

"Not just you," I said.

Colonel O'Neill put down the pillow and looked at me, his eyebrows raised. "Carter?"

"It's too dangerous to send Darien in with a prisoner. If anything goes wrong..." I looked over at Darien and then at the vest and fur cloak that were draped over the chair next to the android. "I can go in disguise and present, um, you," I gestured to the android Colonel, "to Cronus's Jaffa."

The android wrinkled his nose at me. "What are you going to do? Waltz in there, wave your hand, and say 'These are not the droids you're looking for'?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and cocked his head at a curious angle.

"Altair is somewhat lacking in the entertainment department," the android explained with a shrug. "Our Teal'c decided it was necessary to re-enact the entire trilogy for us."

Despite the stress of the current situation, I chuckled softly and glanced at Colonel O'Neill. He was looking back and forth between the android and Teal'c with a confused expression on his face. Finally, he turned to me and shook his head. "I don't think I like this plan."

"It's fine, sir. Really."

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I could tell he thought I might be out for revenge or something. But that wasn't what this was.

I needed to be sure that I wouldn't freeze when faced with Cronus and Sindar. That despite everything they'd done to me, I was still in control of my life and my actions. Unlike when I was being put through the simulations on The Table.

No, this wasn't about revenge. It was about proving to myself that I was still me.

I wasn't sure the Colonel understood that, but he nodded.

"I am grateful for your concern over my safety," said Darien. "But I wish to help."

"You can come with me and Teal'c," answered Colonel O'Neill.

I got up and moved to the table. Picking up the vest and cloak, I looked at Darien. "Can I borrow these? And some clothes?"

"Of course, I will fetch something for you."

Nodding my thanks, I put the vest on. It had several places that would be perfect for concealing my weapons. The two Colonels, Teal'c and I continued discussing the plan while Darien and I assembled my disguise. He handed me a helmet, and I put it on. This was perfect. I could use the mud outside to conceal my facial features enough that I'd pass for a native.

Teal'c suspected that we could face as many as one thousand Jaffa on Cronus's ship. But he told us that a console on the pel'tak could isolate that level from the others and minimise the number of Jaffa we'd have to deal with.

Teal'c also brought up the problem that the rings would have to be activated from within the ship, but the android Colonel O'Neill was able to contact his teammates with an internal radio. The androids of Daniel and Teal'c would do what they could to help us.

I adjusted the clothing the Darien brought me. "What do we do with the other Jaffa once we've dealt with Cronus and taken over the ship?" I asked Teal'c.

"We offer them freedom."

The Colonels nodded, and we all went outside.

In my disguise and carrying Darien's crossbow, I took the android Colonel O'Neill to the pyramid. The Colonel, Teal'c, and Darien remained a safe distance behind as back-up.

"You have captured the intruder," said one of Cronus's Jaffa outside the pyramid. "You will present him to Lord Cronus."

I nodded and followed him into the main chamber of the pyramid, prodding the android to enter the room before me. He gave me a dirty look over his shoulder, but I knew he understood it was part of the role I was playing.

Sindar, Cronus's First Prime, was pacing on a raised platform near the back of the room. He turned as we entered, giving us the sickening smile I had seen too often. It was the same smile he had when he restrained me on The Table. Or when Cronus allowed him to be creative with the day's physical torture.

"Cronus will be pleased," he said.

I couldn't help but smirk as I stepped out from behind android-Colonel O'Neill. "Somehow, I don't think so."

I fired Darien's crossbow, hitting Sindar right between the eyes. His body crumpled to the ground. I dropped the crossbow, drawing my Berretta and one the Colonel had given me out of my vest. I tossed them to the android and pulled my P-90 from under my cloak.

The android-Colonel fired, killing two of the other Jaffa in the chamber. Several others came around a corner, and we took them out, but not before the android was hit in the shoulder.

Another staff blast fizzled past my head, and I heard the Colonel grunt behind me. I looked up to see another Jaffa standing in window overhead. He managed to send another blast down at us before I shot him. His body fell lifelessly to the stone floor below him.

The sound of automatic weapons fire from the corridor behind us signalled the arrival of the rest of my team. With Cronus's Jaffa neutralised for the moment, I turned back to the android. He was lying on the floor.

"Sir!" I knelt at his side and surveyed the damage. He had sustained at least two staff blasts to his torso. A white substance was seeping out of his injuries. "This is bad," I said softly.

He squeezed my hand and shook his head slightly. "It doesn't matter."

"Carter, you alright?" I looked up to see Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, and Darien appear in the doorway, weapons at the ready.

"Yes, sir."

"I'm fine too," said the android through gritted teeth. "Thanks for your concern."

The Colonel sighed. "Are _you_ alright?"

"A little gas." The android let his head fall back to the ground. "Yeah. Got gas."

I shook my head at the questioning look the Colonel gave me. The damage was severe, and I didn't know how to repair it.

The android tapped his chest a few times. "Daniel's almost in position. Go."

Leaving Darien with the injured android, my team and I stepped onto the ring platform and waited for it to be activated.

Colonel O'Neill nudged my shoulder, thrusting his chin at Sindar's dead body. "Nice shot."

"Thank you, sir."

Moments later, we were transported to Cronus's Ha'tak. The android version of Daniel was there waiting for us. His face and arms were damaged. Several Jaffa lay on the floor.

"Teal'c needs help," Daniel said.

"Where?" asked Teal'c.

"He's with Cronus on the pel'tak."

Teal'c and I both headed for the door, but Colonel O'Neill stopped me.

"Carter, we need you to seal off this level." He gave me a pointed look. "There will be time for your revenge just as soon as we separate ourselves from the thousand or so Jaffa on this ship."

I sighed but didn't argue. He just didn't understand this wasn't about revenge.

"Cronus seemed to have a personal vendetta against you," said the android Daniel. "Even more so than against Teal'c, and that's really saying something. What the hell did you do to piss him off?"

"It's more the other way around, actually." The Colonel gestured at the android's injuries. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I managed to trick the Goa'uld that Cronus assigned to torture us into activating the self-destruct in our Sam's body."

Colonel O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "How'd you know how to do that?"

Daniel shrugged. "Was just a little trick Sam taught me before she lost her head."

The casualness of his words stung, but I forced myself to shrug it off. There was work to do.

"The control centre should be this way," I said, leading everyone down the hallway. Rounding a corner, I could see the room I was looking for. I ran up and opened the panel. The Colonel and android-Daniel covered me from outside the room, shooting the approaching Jaffa.

I studied the control crystals before me. A vague memory, not my own, told me what I had to do. This should be easy enough. I reached out to pull the first green crystal out of the panel. Suddenly, I felt like something was peeling the skin off my hand. I shouted in pain, jerking away.

"The crystals are protected by a force shield!" There had to be a way to deactivate it. But how long would that take?

"I'll do it," said the android. "Just tell me how."

He came into the room, and I moved to take his place covering the corridor. "You need to pull out the green crystals. The doors should close and lock automatically."

More Jaffa rounded the corner. I fired at them from behind the wall I was using as cover. The first crystal clattered to the floor behind me, and I could hear a low rumble come from somewhere down the hallway. The doors were closing. This was going to work.

The android Daniel removed more of the control crystals from the panel as Colonel O'Neill and I held the approaching Jaffa at bay. Finally, the door before me scraped down from the ceiling. With my side clear, I turned to check on Colonel O'Neill and Daniel.

Energy crackled around the android's hands as he reached through the force shield. With a loud grunt, he threw the last green crystal to the floor and turned to stare at me.

"Yes!" shouted Colonel O'Neill. "You got it!"

Android-Daniel's fingers were dripping with that same white substance that had come from the android Colonel's injuries. He took a step forward, and then collapsed onto the floor. I fell to my knees next to him.

Then, before my eyes, Daniel died.

Colonel O'Neill placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's not our Daniel, Carter."

"I know." I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the body before me. "It's just..." I didn't know how to explain the conflicting thoughts running through my mind. I didn't fully understand them myself. It was horrifying to see Daniel die, but at the same time I was grateful that this wasn't our Daniel. Which really only increased my feelings of horror.

"Come on." The Colonel squeezed my shoulder. "We gotta find Teal'c."

I got to my feet, and we left the dead android behind. I kept telling myself that our Daniel was safe and sound on another planet with SG-8, but it didn't really help. Colonel O'Neill seemed as shaken up about it as I was.

We made our way to the pel'tak without running into any more Jaffa. Both Teal'cs lay on the floor. I crouched next to the first one but quickly determined that he was the android. And dead. I looked up and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the Colonel helping our Teal'c sit up.

On the floor between us lay Cronus's still form. I stood and looked down at him. With a nudge from my foot, I rolled him onto his back. His eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling.

I could hear the Colonel asking Teal'c if he was alright, and I heard Teal'c respond that he would be fine.

I pointed my P-90 at Cronus.

And pulled the trigger fully back.

"Carter," came Colonel O'Neill's voice after my clip had emptied into the Goa'uld's corpse.

As I stared at Cronus's perforated body, I felt strangely ashamed and gratified at the same time.

Okay, maybe there _was_ a bit of revenge in there somewhere.

"Carter," the Colonel said again. This time, I looked up at him. "If you're finished working out your issues, can we see about landing this ship?"

I reloaded and secured my weapon. "Yes, sir."

Together, Teal'c and I worked out how to land the ship on Juna's pyramid while Colonel O'Neill ringed back down to the surface.

"You okay?" I asked Teal'c once the ship landed. I wasn't sure what Cronus had done to him, but I knew it wasn't pleasant. Cronus never was.

"Both my symbiote and I will require time to heal. However, Cronus is dead, and I will speak to his Jaffa and offer them freedom from the slavery of the Goa'uld." He bowed his head solemnly at me. "I will be fine."

I nodded. "The Colonel and I will gate home. We'll ask General Hammond to send a couple of teams through to secure the ship."

"Very well. I will remain here."

I wished him luck with Cronus's Jaffa and then ringed off the ship to join Colonel O'Neill. The android version of the Colonel was also dead. We were, once again, the only SG-1 in existence.

I wondered how Harlan would take the news.

As we headed for the stargate, Colonel O'Neill talked excitedly about the Ha'tak that was now at our disposal.

"Neither Teal'c nor I are qualified to fly that thing," I told him. "We should see if the Tok'ra can give us some flying lessons."

"Oh, right." The Colonel rolled his eyes. "Because they were so quick to help the last time we needed them."

I just sighed. It was true that they hadn't responded when my teammates had requested assistance in tracking me down after I was abducted. But that didn't matter anymore. My ordeal with Cronus was definitely over now. With the help of my friends, I was home. And I was still me. And Cronus was dead.

"Then again," said Colonel O'Neill. "Now that we have something the Tok'ra will want, they might actually provide the requested support."

I dialled the gate and a few seconds later, we were home again. General Hammond was quite pleased that our mission had been such a success. He ordered SG-5 and SG-9 through the stargate to secure our new Ha'tak and agreed that requesting the Tok'ra's assistance would be a good idea.

I studied the General. He looked concerned.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"We were about to dial PK4-808 to contact Doctor Jackson and SG-8 when you came through. They're late for their scheduled check-in."

I tried to tell myself that there were any number of reasons SG-8 might have been delayed. Daniel was known for losing track of time, after all. I wasn't much better. But after all the fuss Colonel O'Neill had made over lending out Daniel's services, I couldn't believe that Major Jankowicz would have forgotten to report in. The MALP was still there, and it showed nothing out of the ordinary. Yet the complete lack of human response to our radio transmission did nothing to ease my mind.

"Sir," said Colonel O'Neill. "Permission to go find out what's going on over there?"

Hammond nodded. "Granted. Take SG-3 with you."

Clearly, both the Colonel and the General thought that Daniel and his team were in trouble as well.

Although I knew it was irrational, I couldn't seem to get the image of android-Daniel dying out of my mind.

**To be continued...  
Please read and review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**-- Chapter 2 -- **

I managed to break away from the 'be careful, Daniel' chorus of my teammates and make it to my office to pack for my trip to PK4-808. I was touched by their concern but could hardly keep from rolling my eyes at them.

They were worried over nothing.

One thing that _did_ have me worried was last night's nightmare. It had been about my meeting with Fanren, the snivelling little weasel who had sold Sam to Cronus's First Prime. I would have killed Fanren with my bare hands if it meant getting Sam back. At the time, it had seemed a perfectly reasonable response. I'd have done the same for Jack or Teal'c. I was sure of it.

But what did that make me? Fighting my way through waves of an attacking enemy was one thing. But Fanren had been unarmed. And I'd barely given him a chance to answer our questions before deciding that shooting him might make for a more persuasive argument.

Yet every minute he wasted meant one more minute for Sam to change hands again. One more minute for her to slip out of our reach. No, I'd definitely have done the same if it had been Jack or Teal'c that'd been missing. Definitely.

Still, I had to deal with my actions. The remembered rage and desperation had me waking up in a cold sweat last night. I didn't explain the reason for my nightmare to Sam, but she was kind enough to listen to my confusing and probably circular ramblings and then talk me back to sleep.

Truth be told, I missed Sam's company. Which was silly because I saw her every day. But I missed her. Actually, I was starting to worry that I was getting more comfort from her than she was from me. It was supposed to be the other way around.

Shaking my head, I pulled a new notebook off my bookshelf and stuffed it into my pack with the rest of my gear. That was the last of it. I headed for the lockers to change and made it to the gate room with a whole minute to spare. Then, just moments later, I was standing on the surface of another planet. I knew I'd never get tired of that.

"The ruins are down there." Jankowicz gestured to the remains of a village at the base of a mountain not far from the stargate.

"You can see the vault from here too." Julie leaned close to me, pointing over my shoulder. "There, in the hillside." She smiled broadly as we started on our way. "I'm so excited to finally be able to work on a project one-on-one with you."

I ducked my head. "Yeah, you, uh, you mentioned that." She wasn't the only person on my staff that I hadn't worked with individually, but she was the only one to make such a big deal about it. My embarrassment distracted me from where I was walking. I stumbled a bit on a loose stone.

"Hey," said Jankowicz. "I promised Colonel O'Neill I'd have you back without so much as a bruise, remember?" He gave me a good natured grin. "He'll rip me limb from limb if I don't make good on that, so watch your step, okay? For my sake?"

I forced a chuckle, adding another mental note to kill Jack to my list, and we walked the rest of the way to the ruins. Large boulders were scattered throughout the remains of the village, several nestled in the centre of what used to be sizable structures. The other two members of SG-8, Colonel Edward Haswell and Lieutenant Tom McCallum, were waiting for us.

"Hey, Tom!" said Jankowicz with a broad grin. "How'd those soil samples go?"

McCallum gave a tight smile. "Super, Major, thanks for your concern."

"No problems then?"

The Lieutenant shook his head, still wearing that humourless smile. "Not a one."

"Enough, you two." Colonel Haswell's voice was firm, but his expression was amused. "Julie, we found something over here while you were gone." He gestured for her to follow as he headed for one of the buildings that had been flattened by a huge boulder.

"Oh, and Conrad?" Haswell called over his shoulder. "You owe me twenty."

Jankowicz groaned loudly, rolling his head around his shoulders, and then set off at a jog to catch up with Haswell and Julie.

Puzzled, I turned to McCallum, who sighed.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Major Jankowicz seems to find it amusing to superglue the lids on my soil sample containers. I imagine the bet was about whether or not I'd be prepared for him to try it again." He smirked. "I was."

"Are they always like that?"

"Yup."

"That must be fun."

He snorted. "Yup."

"So how do you stand it?"

"I don't have much choice. They're my superior officers."

Poor guy. Suddenly, I felt very lucky that being a civilian meant mouthing off at Jack didn't get me court martialled.

"It's not so bad," he said with a shrug. "Every other week, I swap out his uniform for one that's half a size smaller than the previous one. He's convinced he's gaining weight. In another few weeks, I plan to replace it with one that's six sizes too large. Just to see what happens."

That made me laugh. "Nice. I'll have to try that on Jack. Get him back for messing with my coffee."

"Just don't mention it was my idea." McCallum grinned at me.

"Deal."

"The vault's just over here."

I followed McCallum to the picturesque hillside and was immediately impressed with both the advanced nature of the control panel and door, as well as the artistry of the buttons. Shrugging off my pack, I pulled out my notebook and a pencil to begin sketching it.

It didn't take long to realise that the code required to unlock the vault wasn't something the builders had intended to be much of a puzzle. I suspected the vault had been accessible to the entire literate population. Julie was probably right that it contained the remaining treasures of their culture. All we had to do was learn more about the society that'd once lived on this planet.

"Doctor Jackson!"

Turning, I saw Julie approaching. Haswell and Jankowicz followed her, carrying a tablet between them. I stifled a sigh. They'd have to show me where they had found it later.

They set the tablet on the ground next to me. I skimmed the writing. It was similar to Sumerian cuneiform.

"What do you think?" asked Julie.

"This is interesting." I pointed first to an image of a mace and then to one near a broken corner that looked like part of a dog's head. "The mace has been used to represent Ninurta from Ancient Mesopotamia. And the dog's head is the standard depiction of his wife Gau, also known as Gula."

"How is that significant?" Julie asked, moving closer.

Jankowicz and McCallum chuckled a little, and I smiled at them. Always nice to meet people eager to learn about different cultures.

"Ninurta and Gula were the patron gods of Sirpurla, one of the oldest cities in Sumer. It's possible that the people who used to live here were taken from that region of Earth somewhere around the twenty-first century BC."

"You can learn all that about a society from a single tablet?" Julie looked up at me with wide eyes. "That's incredible."

I smiled at her. "It isn't, really. You just have to know what to look for."

Julie showed me the monument she'd been translating. The language was the same as the one on the tablet.

"They had a rough time," she said. "All the fish in the lake died, an earthquake caused a rock slide that destroyed a lot of the buildings in the village, and a disease wiped out the population."

She pointed to a number of lines of text on one side of the monument. "They were pretty superstitious too. Though with that much bad luck, maybe they had reason to be. They seemed to believe that the disasters were related to each other. They blamed a monster they called Asag for pretty much everything. Even the earthquake."

I narrowed my eyes, studying the text she was indicating. "What if all those events really _were_ related?"

"How can an earthquake make people sick?"

I turned back to look at the mountain that towered over the village. A theory was brewing. "What if it wasn't actually a quake? What if it was an underground eruption?"

Jankowicz followed my gaze. "Eruption as in...volcano?"

"It could explain everything. The tremor, the dead fish, even the deaths. If the lake was their main source of water and an eruption caused it to become contaminated..." I looked back at the members of SG-8. "Maybe it wasn't a disease; maybe they were poisoned by their drinking water."

"Wait," said Colonel Haswell. "You're saying that thing's a volcano?"

"Well, maybe."

Julie gave a weak laugh. "Maybe we should go home."

I turned back to the monument. "You guys have been here for two days. Have you felt any tremors, seen any steam blasts or ground swelling?"

One by one, the four of them shook their heads.

I nodded. "The chance of it erupting during the short time we're here has to be negligible. And we're barely half a click from the stargate." Haswell was frowning at me. "I mean, it's your call, but as long as we don't drink any of the local water, I really don't think it's a problem."

Haswell seemed to think about it, but after a moment, he nodded.

"If I'm right about this, it could help us get into the vault. In Sumerian legend, Ninurta was the one who defeated Asag. And Gula was known as a healing goddess. Their symbols are all on the control panel."

Julie leaned closer, her arm brushing against mine. "Your ability to know what a culture was like based on such limited evidence is just amazing. I'm learning so much just by being around you."

I managed a slight smile and inched away as politely as I could. Invasion of my personal space wasn't a problem with my teammates, but I barely knew this woman.

Haswell cleared his throat. "Do you think Ninurta and Gula were the Goa'uld that brought these people here?"

"Could be."

It took several hours of studying the tablets, monument, and control panel, not to mention stopping for lunch, since Jankowicz insisted that Jack would want me to eat, but we eventually got the vault open. The heavy stone door slid aside slowly, rumbling as some small stones and dust fell from the ceiling inside.

The vault was large and filled with a number of metal-framed shelves, some standing, some toppled over. All were empty.

"Think someone else got here first," I said, kneeling with one knee on the ground just inside the door to examine a broken artefact half-buried in dust. "Oh, here's something." Ceramic, by the look of it. A jar, perhaps, or maybe a vase.

When no one responded, I looked over my shoulder to where Julie and the rest of her team stood in the doorway to the vault. She seemed to be staring intently at something behind my feet. I shifted slightly in my crouch to see what it was but found nothing.

Frowning, I turned back to her. "Julie?"

She jumped as if I startled her. "I'm sorry. What?"

McCallum snorted loudly. Jankowicz punched him in the shoulder. Haswell covered his mouth with one hand, cleared his throat, and turned away. Julie seemed to be blushing. Clearly, I had just missed something funny.

Haswell, Jankowicz, and McCallum began scouting the rest of the vault. It wasn't enormous, and it had definitely been looted a long time ago. I was disappointed. Solving the puzzle of the vault only to find it empty was quite anticlimactic, but there were probably still a few artefacts scattered around that could teach me something.

Julie crouched next to me as I brushed the dust away from the piece near my feet. "You know, I've read all of your published papers," she said.

I forced a laugh. Only one other person I knew had done that. "Did you have insomnia or something?"

"They were fascinating! I was completely blown away by your theories on the orthographic development of hieroglyphic and hieratic script. I know because of the secrecy of the Stargate Program, you can't prove anything right now, but the very fact that you predicted it before you heard about the stargate is just—" She placed her hand on my arm. "The way you see into things is incredible."

"I, uh..." I shifted uncomfortably. This was getting weird. Sarah had said something quite similar many years ago after we'd first met. I looked at Julie out of the corner of my eye. My discomfort increased exponentially as I realised her gaze was freely roaming over my chest and arms. Oh boy. Was that what her teammates had been snickering about all day long?

Strangely, the first question that popped into my head about her actions was what Sam would think about it. That was unexpected. Though the answer was obvious; she'd laugh and tease me. As would Jack. Without mercy. Which was why it would never be mentioned.

"There's a body over here," said McCallum from one corner of the vault, jolting me out of my thoughts.

We all gathered around for a look. Whoever it was had died a long time ago. The body was desiccated to the point of mummification, but in otherwise perfect condition.

Haswell quickly examined it. "He doesn't have any injuries that I can see. It's like he's just sitting there, waiting for something."

McCallum glanced at the open doorway. "Do you think someone locked him in here to die?"

"It's possible," I said. "Maybe he was one of the people who looted the vault, and the others decided not to share."

Jankowicz nudged McCallum with his elbow. "Better watch it, Tom, or we'll lock you in here when we leave."

"That's funny every time, sir."

I returned my attention to the pottery I'd found while the others kept exploring the room.

"Hey," said Julie from a far corner near Haswell. "I think there's more to the vault."

She reached for a control panel next to something that looked like it might be a door leading to a deeper section of the vault. My eyes flew to the mummified tenant. Oh, no. "Wait!"

But I was too late. She pressed a button on the panel. The stone door behind me slammed shut, plunging us into darkness. Its movement caused a violent tremor that shook the entire structure. Rocks of all sizes began raining down from the ceiling.

"Get down!" I heard Haswell order just before Julie screamed.

A nightmarish crash ripped through the darkness, accompanied by a strangled cry that abruptly cut off.

"Take cover!" someone shouted through the din.

There was a squawk of pain from somewhere as I tried to make myself as small a target for the falling stones as possible. A sharp blow to the back of my head told me that I'd failed. I heard myself grunt, and I stumbled to one side, catching myself on what must have been one of the intact shelving units.

It wobbled as I lost track of which way was up. Gravity soon reminded me, and I hit the ground, pulling the metal shelf down on top of me.

And then everything was quiet.

--------------------------------

My head throbbed. I could hear noises around me. Voices.

"I don't care if it's an order, sir. You need it more than I do, and as team medic, I outrank you in medical matters."

"That's bull and you know it, Tom."

"Yeah? You'll have to look it up when we get home. But right now, I'm the one with the needle. So do as I say and hold still." There was a short pause before he continued, "It'll just take a few minutes, okay?"

Something heavy lay over my back, making it hard to breathe. I coughed and inhaled a lungful of dust, which caused me to cough some more. My face was in the dirt.

"Julie, that you?" asked the same voice. McCallum. That was McCallum's voice.

I pried my eyes open to see the beam of a flashlight sweep across the dark vault.

"No." Julie's voice was quiet and muffled, but it sounded like she was crying. "I thought it was you."

The flashlight beam swept back and forth a few times. "Doctor Jackson? Where are you?" said Jankowicz.

"Is he okay?" Julie sounded desperate now.

I managed a quiet groan and tried to sit up. The thing on top of me shifted only slightly. "I'm here," I said. "What happened?"

"Hang on," said McCallum. "I'm coming." There was a grunt of pain, and then, "No, Major. You stay there. I can handle this."

After a lot of scrambling sounds that made me imagine him doing some elaborate, ritualistic dance to get from one end of the vault to the other, McCallum finally arrived next to me. He shone his flashlight in my eyes, which did nothing for the monster of a headache that was pulsing through my frontal lobe.

"Are you hurt?"

I gave my limbs a series of test twitches. Aside from some general aches and what felt like a whole lot of bruises, I was pretty sure I was alright. "Hit my head, I think. But otherwise, I'm okay."

"Oh, thank God," I heard Julie say from somewhere in the darkness.

"Let's see if we can get this thing off of you." McCallum braced his shoulder against the side of the shelving unit and pushed it up a few inches. I dragged myself out from under it and sat up slowly.

"Easy." McCallum put one hand firmly on my arm. "Take it easy."

I pulled my glasses off my face and tried to straighten the frames. One of the lenses was cracked. One of these days, I'd go on a mission that didn't destroy my glasses. I put them back on. At least they could still be of some use.

Suddenly, there was a bright light in my eyes again. I grimaced and turned away.

"Sorry, sir. I just have to see if you're alright. You've been unconscious for a while."

"Yeah, well, trust me," I grumbled. Another beam of light was coming from near a wall. I shielded my eyes as I looked into it. "Jankowicz?"

A bubble of laughter came from the light. "Hey there, Doc!"

"Is he okay?" I asked McCallum.

"His leg is broken, but I just gave him a shot of morphine. He's better than okay right now."

I squinted at McCallum. He was now holding the flashlight under one arm while he cradled the other against his body. "Are you okay?"

"My wrist is broken."

I winced in sympathy. Looked like I got off easy with just a bump on the head and broken glasses. "Julie? Haswell?"

"I'm here," said Julie, her voice still muffled. I turned to the sound but couldn't see much in the darkness of the vault.

"She's alright," said McCallum, handing me his flashlight. "Just trapped for the moment. Much like all of us."

I shone the flashlight in the direction of Julie's voice. A shock of red hair poking out from under a large flat stone slab caught my attention. "Julie? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm just—" The hair moved slightly as she sniffed. "I'm stuck."

"And Haswell?"

McCallum shook his head, then nodded to the far corner. "We thought you were, um..."

I shone my light in the direction he indicated and saw a huge stone slab, even bigger than the one that had Julie trapped, lying flat on the ground. Oh God. Was Haswell—?

I squeezed my eyes closed, fighting against the flood of memories that threatened to overwhelm me. With several deep breaths, I managed to bring myself to the present.

"It should be me," Julie was saying. "He pushed me out of the way. It should be—" A sob came out from beneath her stone. "This is all my fault."

"Julie, everything's going to be okay," said McCallum.

She uttered a harsh and humourless laugh. "Tell that to Ed."

"The Colonel died protecting his team. He'd have been okay with that."

The only response was another sniffle.

I shone the light on McCallum's arm. It looked bad. "I'll help you with that. Where's your kit?"

He shook his head. "I used the only remaining shot of morphine on Major Jankowicz. The others were destroyed in the collapse."

"It's nice," said Jankowicz with a broad grin. "You should try it."

"Well, we can at least get it immobilised," I said.

With the supplies in McCallum's first aid kit, I splinted his injury and helped him into a sling. Then, since Jankowicz seemed sufficiently blurred, we stabilised his leg as well. Janet could set the bones properly once we got back home.

I got to my feet, wobbling slightly, and fumbled the flashlight. It fell onto the dusty floor with a soft thud, so I leaned down to pick it up. Apparently, I moved too quickly. I was overcome with nausea and dizziness. With one hand against the wall, I swallowed hard, refusing to get sick in such an enclosed space.

"Are you alright, sir?" asked McCallum.

"I'm fine," I told him. Or make that I told both of him. Seeing double wasn't quite fine, but I was certainly better off than Colonel Haswell. I refused to look at the dark puddle that was oozing out from under the stone slab where he lay.

We had to get out of this place. Involuntarily, I glanced at our mummified companion. Most likely a looter who got greedy and found that the vault had quickly become his tomb. That probably meant that there was no way to open the door from the inside. And that meant we were really screwed. Still, we had to try.

I had a light source and archaeological training, two things I doubted our friendly neighbourhood looter had had. I also had a head that was throbbing so hard I thought it might explode any minute, so I figured I could use some help.

"Okay, Julie," I said. "Time to get you out of there."

"I can't," she whimpered. "I'm stuck."

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it," Jankowicz said loudly, waving his arms in the air. "And I can move the world!" He snorted and grinned. "Fulcrum's a funny word. Ful-crum." Abruptly, his grin disappeared, and his arms dropped to his sides. "Hey, I'm tired."

McCallum made his way over to Jankowicz's side. He crouched next to his teammate and patted him on the shoulder with his good hand. "Why don't you take a little nap then, okay buddy?"

"M'kay," said Jankowicz. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, snickering again. "Fulcrum," he mumbled.

Archimedes. It was an idea. We needed a lever. A bit of poking around the piles of rubble in the vault turned up a broken shelf. I managed to free a four-foot long metal bar from its frame. It seemed strong enough for the task. Next, I found a stone with a notch in one side that could be the perfect fulcrum. After setting it up near the side of the slab that had Julie trapped, I jammed the bar into the space between the two stones.

The impact from that movement graciously provided me with another wonderful wave of nausea. I leaned on the bar to keep from falling over. It poked painfully at my stomach, doing nothing for my nausea, so I pushed off it again with a groan.

"I'm fine," I snapped before anyone could ask. Concussed and getting grumpier by the minute, but I'd be fine once Janet worked her magic in the infirmary. Which was where we'd all be going just as soon as we got the damned door open.

"Okay, McCallum, be ready to help her out when I get this up." It was time to do this. "Ready?" I asked them.

"Yeah."

"I'm ready."

With a deep breath, I laid all my weight on the lever, inching the stone slab up. I sighed with relief as McCallum helped Julie scramble out from under the massive rock. It wouldn't bring Haswell back, but at least the rest of us were more or less safe. Well, assuming we could get out of this vault.

As I began to slowly ease the stone back down, the lever in my hands slipped out of its notch. The slab slammed to the ground, sending a shudder through the entire structure.

Before I had a chance to cry a warning, stones again began raining from the ceiling. Not really in the market for a second blow to the head, I bent over, trying to avoid being hit. It was useless. A particularly large and hard rock bounced off of my back, and I heard myself cry out as it sent me sprawling forward. There was a sharp pain in my gut, and I collapsed to the ground on my side.

I gasped but couldn't seem to draw a deeper breath. Every attempt caused shooting pain through my abdomen. Slowly, I came to the realisation that something was very wrong. Though that much was obvious. We were trapped in a vault, Colonel Haswell was dead, and nearly everyone else was injured.

But there was more than that. I just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Everyone okay?" asked McCallum.

"Oh, God!" A beam of light bounced toward me and Julie appeared, kneeling on the ground at my side. "Don't move, Doctor Jackson."

I looked up into her face and saw panic there. Uh oh.

"Just hang on," she said. "Tom! Help!"

The edges of my vision were growing progressively darker, and as much as I tried to fight it, I knew I was going to lose the battle to retain consciousness.

"Sir?" McCallum's voice echoed vaguely in my head. "I think he's going into shock. Cover him with your jacket. Try to keep him warm."

"Listen to me, Doctor Jackson. Daniel, stay with me," came Julie's voice. "No, don't try to pull it out. Th–that would be very bad. You have to hang on. Don't pull it out."

Pull what out? Gasping for breath, I looked down to where my hands were still wrapped around the bar I had used as a lever. Through the darkness that was quickly encroaching on my vision, and in the dim light from Julie's flashlight, the metal glinted slightly between my fingers. My eyes followed the metallic sheen until it disappeared into my abdomen.

Oh yeah. Definitely not fine.

**To be continued...  
Please read and review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**-- Chapter 3 -- **

Colonel O'Neill and I stepped through the event horizon and onto PK4-808 with the members of SG-3. From the stargate, we could see the ruins of the abandoned village. The entrance to the chamber that'd had Daniel and SG-8 so intrigued could be seen nestled in the side of the mountain next to the remains of a village.

The Colonel tried the radio but received no response. It didn't make any sense. Even from within the chamber, they should be able to receive and transmit radio signals. I scanned the sky and surrounding territory but saw no evidence that anyone aside from Daniel's team had been there.

"Okay, let's go." Colonel O'Neill led us at a brisk pace toward the nearby chamber. It seemed we both knew that was where Daniel and his team would have been last.

A minute later, we were staring at a large stone slab that was covering what looked like it should be an entrance. A number of boot prints on the ground indicated that Daniel and SG-8 had gone inside but had not come out. That explained the lack of contact. The radio signal couldn't get through the rock.

"Daniel, you in there?" shouted Colonel O'Neill near one edge of the stone slab.

I strained to hear any response from inside. Finally, a voice carried faintly through the door.

"Colonel O'Neill, it's Lieutenant McCallum," said the voice. "There's been a cave in. The door closed, and we're trapped. We have casualties, sir."

Casualties. I tried not to wonder why Daniel hadn't responded when the Colonel had specifically called his name. I glanced to the Marines of SG-3, who had been examining the stone door. Their team leader, Major Lawrence, shook his head at Colonel O'Neill. "There's no way we can move this, sir."

I ran my fingers lightly over the set of buttons just to the right of the door. "Does this panel open the door?" I shouted through the rock.

This time it was Doctor Bedard's voice we heard. "Yes. The door was locked when we arrived."

I examined the panel. Nine raised, round buttons with symbols engraved on them were arranged in rows of three. "What's the key sequence?"

"Um, I'm just..." Bedard's voice trailed off into silence.

The Colonel rolled his eyes. "Where's Daniel?"

"He–he can't talk right now."

I felt my entire body tense with fear.

Colonel O'Neill leaned closer to me. "He's probably got his mouth full of a mocha protein bar and can't talk, Carter." He gave me what I knew he meant to be a reassuring smile, but he failed to hide the fear in his eyes. "You know how he loves those things. No big deal."

I managed a weak smile.

"Okay, I got it," came Bedard's voice through the stone again. "Press the top right, middle left, and–and then the centre button."

I pressed the buttons in sequence and waited.

"Nothing's happening," the Colonel muttered before repeating the comment louder for Bedard to hear.

There was a pause before the woman responded. "Hang on a minute."

More terrifying seconds ticked by. I could tell Colonel O'Neill was as afraid for Daniel's welfare as I was. But from the concerned looks the marines were giving me, I had a feeling he was doing a better job at hiding it.

"Okay, Doctor Jackson says you need to press the middle one twice."

The Colonel looked at me with a smile. "There," he said as he leaned over and pressed the centre button a second time. The door slowly started to slide open. "See? 'Doctor Jackson says'. If Daniel's still talking, how bad can it be?"

I ducked through the entrance before it was fully opened, brushing past Bedard. Dust and some small rocks tumbled from the ceiling, but nothing too serious.

"Oh, Daniel!" called the Colonel, entering the room right behind me. "What have I told you about locking yourself in..." His voice trailed off as he looked around.

A faint acrid odour hung in the air and floating dust sparkled in the beams of our flashlights. I scanned the room. Bedard and McCallum were awake and alert; Jankowicz was leaning against a far wall with his eyes closed. I didn't see Colonel Haswell but was too worried about Daniel to think too much about it at the moment. He was lying on the ground.

Lieutenant McCallum was wearing a sling and crouching near Daniel's side. "He's unconscious again," he said quietly.

"Check them," the Colonel ordered Major Lawrence, nodding to the rest of the injured.

We dropped to our knees next to our fallen friend as the commander of SG-3 ordered his team to check on the others in the vault.

"What happened?" barked Colonel O'Neill while I checked Daniel's pulse.

The rhythm under my fingers was weak and thready, but it was there. He was alive. I nodded at the Colonel, and he released a relieved breath. Two of the marines began helping a semi-conscious Jankowicz out of the vault.

"There was a cave in," said McCallum. "We were locked in."

Bedard sniffed and wiped at her nose. "It–it was my fault."

My hand cupped Daniel's cheek. He was very pale, and his skin was clammy. "Daniel?" My fingers moved through his hair, and I winced when I discovered a large lump, caked with dried blood, on the back of his head.

Colonel O'Neill looked up at McCallum and nodded to the door. "You're injured. Get yourself to the infirmary." The Lieutenant nodded tightly and left. Doctor Bedard moved as if to follow him, but apparently decided against it when she caught sight of the Colonel's face.

On the ground near Daniel's head lay a notebook. It was open to a sketch of the control panel outside. The Colonel picked up a broken vial of smelling salts from next to the notebook. He gave Bedard a questioning look.

"He was only conscious for a few seconds. I didn't— I wasn't sure about the door." Tears welled in her eyes. "We need to get him back right away, but I–I don't know how we're going to get him out."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Colonel O'Neill touched the ground near his knee and examined his fingers. "Is this blood?" He pulled back the jacket that was covering Daniel and threw it aside. "Son of a..."

I gasped when I saw the large metal rod that entered Daniel's abdomen and exited his back. God, no. This couldn't be happening.

"Get back to the gate," the Colonel ordered Major Lawrence. "Get Fraiser on the radio."

With a quick nod, the Major sprinted out of the vault. Colonel O'Neill looked sharply at Bedard. "How'd this happen?"

"I was— I was trapped. He saved me, but there was another cave in. And–and—" The young woman swiped at the tears that were tracing lines through the dust on her cheeks. "Is he going to be okay?"

I glanced at the ground where Daniel lay. The soil was dark with his blood. The Colonel hadn't answered Bedard's question, so I looked at him. He was staring at me, fear darkening his features.

I wanted to assure him that Daniel would be okay. I wanted to believe it myself. But I couldn't. This was bad. I turned back to look at Daniel's pale face when the radio on my shoulder crackled to life.

"Colonel O'Neill," came General Hammond's voice. "I can have a med team ready to gate to your location in ten minutes."

The Colonel shook his head. "Daniel's badly injured, sir. I don't think he has ten minutes."

"Colonel? This is Doctor Fraiser. What's his condition?"

He nodded at me, and I squeezed the talk button on my radio. "He's been impaled with some kind of metal rod straight through the right side of his upper abdomen. He's unconscious, there's a lump on the back of his head, and he's lost a lot of blood." My mind raced for the vital information that Janet needed to be able to assess Daniel's condition. "His pulse is very weak, skin pale and clammy, breathing shallow and laboured."

There was a pause that seemed to last an eternity before Janet answered. "Can you get him to the gate?"

Colonel O'Neill grunted in frustration. "The pole's about four feet long, Doc. I don't think we can move him that far without causing more damage."

"Can you cut it into to a more manageable length?"

I examined the metal and shook my head at the Colonel. "We don't have anything to cut this, sir."

"Also not an option," he said into the radio.

"You'll have to remove it," said Janet. "Use a single quick and smooth motion to pull it out."

Colonel O'Neill looked at me. "Switch sides with me. I'll pull it out while you hold him steady."

I nodded and moved to kneel behind Daniel as the Colonel moved to his front.

"Now, it's very important to immediately apply a constant and firm pressure on both sides of the wound," said Janet. "You'll need something to use for dressings."

I stood up and quickly shrugged off my vest and then my jacket. The Colonel followed suit, and I balled up the jackets separately to create two makeshift bandages.

"I might be able to put together some kind of stretcher with some stuff in here," said the last marine.

The Colonel nodded. "See what you can find. But if it's not done by the time we're ready, I'm just going to carry him."

"Bedard, I could use your help," the marine said.

While they began poking through the rubble in the vault, I held my hand out to the Colonel. "Give me your belt."

He blinked once at me but then pulled it off.

I slid one end of his belt under Daniel's side. "This can hold pressure on the bandages while we move him."

"Good thinking." The Colonel pushed the talk button on his radio again. "Alright, anything else?"

"That's it, Colonel. I'll have a team waiting for you in the gate room."

"Okay." Colonel O'Neill wrapped his hands around the bar. He looked at me. "Ready?"

I placed my hands firmly on Daniel's hip and ribs, on either side of the metal rod. The bandages and belt were ready. And I was as ready as I was ever going to be. I gave a tight nod.

The Colonel took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly. "On three. One, two..." With one quick motion, he pulled the bar out of Daniel's body.

Daniel uttered a soft moan, and his head moved slightly. Immediately, I pressed our jackets over both of the heavily bleeding wounds. I heard the sickening clang of metal against stone, and then the Colonel was pulling his belt around the makeshift bandages. Daniel didn't react to the pressure.

"Jesus," Colonel O'Neill whispered. "Is he... Did I just...?"

With the bandages firmly held against the wounds and the Colonel tightening the belt, I checked Daniel's pulse. My breath caught in my throat for a moment when I couldn't feel anything. No, please, no.

Desperately, I moved my fingers slightly. There. I found it. Still there. Just very weak. "It's okay, sir."

The Colonel released a stressed breath. "Stretcher?" he shouted.

I looked over to where Bedard and the marine were working. They'd found a couple of metal bars and tied their jackets between them, but it wasn't yet anywhere near sturdy enough to support Daniel's weight. And our jackets were already in use. "Sorry, sir," said the marine.

"Right, then."

I helped Colonel O'Neill heave Daniel's unconscious form over his shoulder.

"We still good to go?" he asked.

I checked the positioning of the bandages and belt. "We're good."

"Alright. Move out."

The Colonel moved quickly outside. I hesitated briefly. I had only counted four people when we entered this godforsaken vault. I glanced at Bedard. "Where's Haswell?"

"He, uh..." Bedard looked toward a far corner as her eyes began to well with tears again.

I followed her gaze to the bloody mess seeping out from beneath a large rock. A shiver ran down my spine, and I thanked God that hadn't been Daniel. Turning, I hurried after Colonel O'Neill with the others behind me. Someone would have to come back for Haswell's body later.

Moments later, we were through the gate and back on Earth. Janet and her staff helped move Daniel from the Colonel's shoulder onto the waiting gurney.

I found myself in the corridor outside the gate room, staring as the elevator doors closed behind Daniel and the medical personnel milling around him. A hand squeezed my shoulder, and I let Colonel O'Neill lead me to the elevator. He pushed the button and we waited for the car to arrive.

It felt like days, but I knew it was only a few hours that the Colonel and I waited in the infirmary for Daniel to come out of surgery. The surviving members of SG-8 were seen and treated by those on Janet's staff that weren't in the operating room. We were assured they'd be fine. SG-3 had been sent back to the planet with an engineering team and the equipment they'd need to retrieve Colonel Haswell.

Finally, Janet came through the doors, a serious expression on her face. Colonel O'Neill and I were instantly on our feet to meet her.

"We've completed the surgery, but his condition remains critical," she said slowly. "You did excellent work removing the rod."

I suppressed a shudder and felt Colonel O'Neill shift slightly beside me. He probably wanted to forget the experience of pulling that thing out of our friend as much as I did.

"He was very lucky. It didn't hit any major blood vessels, but it did lacerate his liver. He lost a lot of blood. We have him on antibiotics and are continuing blood transfusions."

"But he'll be okay, right?" asked the Colonel.

The doctor's eyes moved back and forth between us in deafening silence.

"Janet?" I choked.

She took a deep breath. "We need a few days," she said softly. "He's strong."

I stared at her, silently pleading her to promise me that Daniel would live. She didn't comply. "The next few days will tell," was all she said.

Colonel O'Neill's arm went around my shoulders, and I leaned into him for support.

"We've moved him into an isolation room for now," said Janet. "But before you see him, you should know that he's also on a ventilator. The anaesthetic we used for the surgery was affecting his breathing. Over the next few hours, I expect we'll be able to wean him off of it."

I followed Colonel O'Neill into the isolation room where Daniel was lying. I pulled up a chair next to his bed, my eyes moving over his still form. He had tubes and wires coming out from everywhere.

The ventilator hissed, and I scowled at it. Its wheeze wasn't even remotely reassuring like the steady beep of Daniel's heart monitor. All the nightmarish hiss served to do was remind me that my friend wasn't breathing on his own.

Colonel O'Neill stood at the foot of Daniel's bed. "I better tell Teal'c what's going on."

Teal'c. I had forgotten all about Teal'c. He was still on Juna, trying to convert Cronus's Jaffa to the rebellion. Checking my watch, I realised that it hadn't even been a full day since we left on that mission to help our robot counterparts. It felt like it'd been weeks ago.

"Will you be alright here?" asked the Colonel.

"Yes, sir." I picked up Daniel's hand and nodded to my commanding officer. "I'll stay with him."

"I won't be long."

Colonel O'Neill left the isolation room, leaving me alone with Daniel and his medical equipment. The ventilator hissed hatefully at me.

I talked softly to Daniel, trying not to let my eyes linger too long on the various tubes and needles that protruded from his body. It was awful to see him like this, but he needed to know that he wasn't alone.

A short while later, the Colonel returned. "Teal'c will be here in a few hours."

I nodded silently.

"He wanted to come right away," he continued. "But I told him there was nothing he could do here."

I nodded again. Cronus's Jaffa definitely weren't going to listen to anyone from the Tau'ri. Teal'c was the only one who would be able to convince them to join the fight against the Goa'uld.

"Jacob's supposed to be coming, too."

I looked up at that, feeling a bubble of hope rise within me. Dad could heal Daniel's injuries.

Colonel O'Neill scowled at the floor. "Might be a few days."

And just like that, the bubble burst. "What? Why?"

"They responded to the message we sent before all this." He waved his hand at Daniel. "You know, the one about the ship. They're not answering now."

I sighed and returned my attention to Daniel, squeezing his hand in mine. "Dad will be here."

The Colonel sat heavily onto a chair on the other side of Daniel's bed. "Yeah," he said quietly. I refused to look at him. I didn't want to see his disbelief in my words. Dad would come. He'd fix this. He had to.

For a few minutes, the only noise in the room was the hissing, whirring, clicking, and beeping of the instruments monitoring Daniel's condition. And the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. I hoped Colonel O'Neill couldn't hear that.

"Look," he said finally. "Get some sleep, Carter. I got this shift."

"I'm fine, sir."

"You need to rest just as much as anyone." Colonel O'Neill sighed. "Between what happened on Cronus's ship and this mess with Daniel... You need sleep."

I shook my head. "I'm not tired." That wasn't entirely true. I was exhausted. But I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, even if I tried. I'd just lie awake in bed, worrying about Daniel. That was something I could do right here.

"The thing with Cronus was tough enough on me. I can't even imagine what it was like for you. Go."

I didn't respond.

"I could make it an order, Major."

I glared at him defiantly. The ventilator hissed and whirred. I stroked the back of Daniel's hand with my thumb.

The Colonel met my gaze for a long moment. Finally, he sighed. "For crying out loud," he muttered as he shuffled his chair up closer to Daniel's bed.

I turned back to Daniel. Except for the ventilator tube coming out of his mouth, he looked quite peaceful.

"He's going to be okay, Carter."

"I know, sir." Of course Daniel would be okay. He had to be. Because the alternative was impossible to even consider.

"Making yourself sick won't make him wake up any sooner, you know."

How could I explain how utterly helpless I felt? "Every time you, Teal'c, or Daniel is hurt or missing, there's something for me to do to help." I glanced up to see him frowning at me. "A device to be fixed or built, aliens to negotiate with, a search party to join..." I sighed, turning back to Daniel, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "There's nothing I can do to help him this time. Nothing except be here."

When the Colonel didn't reply, I looked at him. "I have to be here."

He stared back at me for a while before nodding. Relieved, I gave him a weak smile, and we both returned our attention to our injured friend on the bed between us.

"He's going to be okay," Colonel O'Neill said again.

That made my smile grow a little. "I know, sir."

We sat quietly by Daniel's bedside. Janet and her staff came around several times to check his monitors and make adjustments to his IV bags and ventilator. A few hours later, Teal'c arrived, joining our vigil.

"How'd it go with Cronus's Jaffa?" asked Colonel O'Neill.

"The majority of them were anxious to join the rebellion against the false gods."

I smiled slightly, deciding not to ask what had happened to those that weren't. "That's good news."

The Colonel and Teal'c spoke softly for a while. As the time passed, Teal'c seemed to grow more agitated. Eventually, he stood. "I am afraid I cannot put off my Kel'no'reem any longer." He nodded solemnly to us and left the infirmary.

Later, Janet and two nurses came in and again checked on the monitors around Daniel's bed. Then she turned to me and the Colonel. "Can you two step out a moment, please?"

I stood, concerned. "Janet?"

"We're going to try taking him off the ventilator. It won't be long."

Feeling numb, I followed Colonel O'Neill out of the isolation room as a nurse closed the door behind me. I stared at the wall and ran a hand through my hair.

"This is a good thing, right?" asked the Colonel. "If he doesn't need the ventilator any more, then he's doing better. He'll be fine."

I just nodded, waiting tensely. Finally, the door opened to reveal Janet's smiling face.

"He's breathing well on his own," she said. "His condition is still critical, but this is a good sign. We're moving him into the main infirmary now."

With Daniel and his myriad of monitoring devices, tubes and whatnot finally settled in the main room of the infirmary, I tucked a chair up to his bed. Weaving my fingers between Daniel's, I placed my other hand on his forearm, absently stroking my thumb over his skin. His heart monitor beeped steadily.

The Colonel again sat down on the other side. After a moment, he cleared his throat. I looked up to see him staring at my hands.

"Look, Carter," he said, glancing quickly around the room. "I, uh, I know we said we weren't going to talk about this. But..." Colonel O'Neill sighed as his eyes searched mine.

I frowned at him. "Talk about what?"

"That whole..." He waved a hand vaguely in the air. "Zatarc thing."

Alarmed, I looked around the infirmary, thankfully confirming that Janet and her staff had disappeared again. I studied him, not sure why he was bringing this subject up.

"I mean, what with all of this going on." Colonel O'Neill thrust his chin in the direction of Daniel's sleeping form.

Oh. I squeezed my eyes closed for a moment. "I'm sorry, sir." I sighed. "I know that there are a number of people and groups that would jump at the chance to split up SG-1 if they knew how strongly we all felt about each other." I looked at him imploringly. "But I can't leave him. I just can't."

The Colonel and I had been lucky to get away with the discovery of the 'untruth' during the zatarc testing a few months ago. It was a little odd to have to talk about it with my commanding officer. He never seemed very willing to talk about his feelings. It probably would have been much less strange if it had been me and Teal'c or me and Daniel who had been suspected of being brainwashed assassins. We were a very tight-knit group, and we all cared for each other a lot more than we should.

The Colonel's eyes narrowed and again locked on my hands. "How we all feel about each other..." he said slowly.

"The three of you are like family to me," I said softly.

"So, when you said that—"

Colonel O'Neill's voice broke off abruptly, and I turned to him, studying his expression. He looked tired, and his normally warm brown eyes were guarded.

"Is something wrong, sir?" I asked.

"Not at all," he answered, shaking his head. Abruptly, the Colonel stood up and stretched with a groan. "I'm going to get something to eat. You want anything?"

I shook my head and watched as he left. Alone again, I spoke softly to my unconscious friend.

"Daniel, I don't know if you can hear me. But you have to wake up. Come back to us. We need you." Tears burned my eyes. "I need you," I whispered.

My hand lightly stroked his cheek, but he didn't open his eyes.

"You've beaten worse things than this. You're going to be okay. All you have to do is wake up." I ran my fingers through his hair and caressed his face. "Please wake up, Daniel."

Still, his eyes remained closed. My thumb lingered over his lips, and I frowned. It was odd that such an intimate touch seemed so natural.

"Major Carter."

I jumped at Teal'c's voice and pulled my hand away from Daniel's face.

"I did not intend to alarm you," said Teal'c as he approached. He placed a tray of food on a table. "His condition has improved."

"He doesn't need the ventilator anymore," I said. "He's going to be okay."

"Of that I am certain."

I gave Teal'c a small smile and picked up Daniel's hand again. Resting my chin on our woven fingers, I looked at him. His face was still so pale. If it wasn't for the steady beeping of his heart monitor...

"He has to be," I said softly.

Teal'c nodded, moving to stand next to my chair. "Daniel Jackson has proven most resilient in the past."

"I know. I just can't help but worry."

"Nor can I."

"How are you doing?" I asked, my gaze moving from his face to his stomach and back again.

"Much of the damage Cronus inflicted on my symbiote is now healed."

"Good." I studied him for a moment, and then took a deep breath. I hadn't been a very good friend to him on Cronus's ship. "Teal'c, I'm sorry I—"

"Major Carter," he interrupted. "There is no need for you to apologise."

I turned away, staring at the sheets on Daniel's bed, tears blurring my vision. "He was dead. You were injured. And I—"

A hand on my shoulder stopped me. I looked up to see Teal'c's deep brown eyes silently expressing his trust, understanding, and concern for me. On impulse, I stood and engulfed him in a hug. I felt his arms wrap around my back.

"I'm happy you're okay," I mumbled into his chest.

He squeezed me tightly for a long moment, and I allowed myself to smile. Teal'c always gave the best hugs.

"I am pleased that you are also," he said, his grip loosening. "Many of Cronus's Jaffa were impressed by the number of injuries inflicted on their false god. I believe his wounds alone convinced many to join our cause."

Chuckling, I stepped back from our hug. "Glad I could help."

Teal'c bowed his head and moved to the foot of Daniel's bed, picking up the tray of food he had brought.

"Teal'c," Colonel O'Neill said, walking into the infirmary with a sandwich in his hand. "I thought you were meditating." He grabbed another chair and dragged it closer. Turning it around, he sat on it backwards, resting his arms on its back.

"I wished to check on the wellbeing of Daniel Jackson." Teal'c walked over to me, holding out the tray. "I suspected you would still be here, Major Carter, so I have brought this for you."

"Thanks," I said, shaking my head. "But I'm not hungry."

He frowned at me. "Have you consumed any nourishment since our mission to assist our android selves?"

I just closed my eyes, not turning away from Daniel.

"Daniel Jackson would not want you to neglect your own health."

Sighing, I looked at Teal'c. I knew he was right, but the thought of food right now made my stomach turn. He was still holding the tray out to me, so I took it. I put it down on the small table beside me, at the head of Daniel's bed, and examined the food on the plate. I poked at something beige and tentatively raised a forkful of it to my nose. It was offensive. I grimaced and put the fork down.

"Carter." The Colonel's tone held a note of warning. I didn't have to look at him to know the stern expression that would be on his face.

Picking up the fork again, I swallowed a mouthful of food without tasting it. I managed three more bites before the protestations of my stomach became impossible to ignore. A glance at the Colonel and Teal'c seemed to indicate that they were both satisfied. I quietly set the fork back on my plate.

Minutes blended into hours, hours into days. I slept off and on, curled up in my chair next to Daniel's bed. I wondered if this was what it had been like for him after they'd rescued me from Cronus's base. Teal'c had told me then that Daniel hadn't left my bedside during that time. I was so sorry he'd had to go through this.

At least if..._when_ Daniel woke up, he was unlikely to shoot me.

Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill cycled through visits. General Hammond sat with me and Daniel for a while before he had to leave to pick up his granddaughters. He patted my shoulder as he left, encouraging me to get some rest. I just nodded and tucked my chair closer to Daniel's bed.

Janet's staff routinely checked on his progress. They studied the monitors surrounding his bed, made notes in their charts, changed his dressings, IV and blood transfusion bags.

More than once, Janet threatened me with sedation if I didn't get some rest. But with some diplomacy and bargaining skills learned from Daniel, I managed to get her to compromise. I was to rest on the infirmary bed next to Daniel's. Not that I could sleep, even being so close to him.

A few times, when the medical staff did their rounds, I pretended that I was sleeping on my bed. But as soon as they were gone, I went back to my chair. It wasn't as if I wasn't getting any sleep at all. I was. Either curled up in my chair or with my head on Daniel's bed. I really didn't know why everyone was bothering me so much about it.

The Colonel relieved Teal'c again and brought me a sandwich. He looked about as tired as I felt and, sure enough, he dozed off in his chair after an hour or so. I tried a bite of the sandwich, but when it threatened to come back up, I tossed it into the nearby garbage.

Suddenly, the base alarms started screaming. "Unscheduled off-world activation!" said Sergeant Harriman over the loudspeakers.

Colonel O'Neill jolted awake in his chair. He looked at me, an odd mixture of hope and anger on his face. "Is that Jacob?"

I shook my head, cautiously hopeful. "I don't know, sir."

The Colonel stood and looked back and forth between Daniel and the door to the hallway, appearing conflicted. Then, with a heavy sigh, he sat back down. "If it's him, they'll bring him here."

Just a few minutes later, Teal'c arrived, accompanied by my dad.

"Hey, Sammy," he bent to give me a hug. "What happened? Your message didn't say anything about injuries."

Colonel O'Neill stood up and took several rather menacing steps toward Dad. "It did mention the big honkin' mothership we picked up though, didn't it, Jacob? Funny how you guys care more about that sort of thing than our people."

Dad turned to him with a scowl. "How the hell was I supposed to know Daniel was injured, Jack? Having a symbiote doesn't make me psychic!"

"Colonel, please." I looked at my commanding officer imploringly before placing a hand on my father's arm. "Can you help him?"

"I'd love to, but I didn't bring a healing device."

"I have one right here," said Janet, arriving with the device I'd found on Cimmeria. She must have taken it out of secure storage earlier, anticipating Dad's arrival. She'd clearly been anxious for Daniel too.

My dad bowed his head briefly, then Selmak raised it and took the device. He held it over Daniel's body, and it began to glow.

"He is badly injured," said Selmak.

"This much we know," muttered Colonel O'Neill. "But you can heal him, right?"

"The healing device does not have the same power as a sarcophagus."

"Selmak," I said softly.

"Do not worry, Major Carter. I will do what I can for now. However, it will require more than one session to fully repair the damage."

I breathed a sigh of relief and watched as the Tok'ra healed Daniel. Several long minutes passed. Finally, the glowing stopped, and Selmak lowered the healing device. He leaned on the edge of the bed, his head hanging.

I reached out to him, alarmed.

"We're okay, kiddo," came Dad's voice. "It's just that healing an injury this severe is pretty draining. I think we're going to go lie down now. I'll come back in a few hours to try some more."

"Thanks, Dad."

He gave me a tired nod and headed out of the infirmary. I turned my attention back to Daniel, again picking up his hand.

Janet checked the instruments monitoring Daniel's vital signs. "He's doing much better. He'll be fine now," she said. "In fact, he'll probably be waking up soon."

I smiled warmly at her as relief flooded through me. Janet brushed a reassuring hand across my back as she left Daniel's side again.

"Why don't you go get some rest too, Carter."

I shook my head at Colonel O'Neill. "Really, I'm fine, sir. I'd like to be here when he wakes up."

He sighed but sat down. Teal'c pulled up a chair and sat next to me. I studied Daniel's sleeping features, then squeezed his hand in mine.

His fingers returned the squeeze.

I gasped. "Daniel?"

"What's wrong, Carter?"

"He squeezed my hand, sir. Daniel, wake up."

His eyelids fluttered open, and I nearly cried with relief.

"Hey, Doc! He's awake," the Colonel called to Janet, standing up to get out of her way.

Daniel squinted at me, his mouth silently forming my name.

"It's okay," I said, pouring a glass of water from the jug on the table beside me. I helped him take a drink. "You're going to be okay."

He swallowed the water and coughed a bit. "Thank you," he said softly, his voice scratchy. He looked around at the people surrounding his bed.

"How are you feeling, Daniel?" asked Janet as she shone her penlight into his eyes.

Daniel groaned and pressed his hands to his abdomen. "I've been better. Didn't we already do the appendix thing?"

Janet smiled, finished her fussing, and handed Daniel a new pair of glasses. He put them on and peered at us, clearly awaiting an explanation.

The Colonel frowned down at Daniel. "Carter and I found you and your team stuck in that vault you promised me was safe."

"Is everyone okay?"

Colonel O'Neill sighed. "Colonel Haswell was dead when we got there. Jankowicz, McCallum, and Bedard will all be fine. You, on the other hand, turned yourself into a Daniel-kabob."

Daniel winced. "I think I remember that." He looked around at the faces surrounding his bed. "Do I want to know how long ago that was?"

"About five days, now."

Daniel's eyebrows rose, and he touched his abdomen again. "How am I...?"

"Jacob showed up a little while ago. Turns out all we have to do to get the Tok'ra to help us is get a bigger ship than they have."

"What?"

I sighed. "Colonel, can we just be happy that Daniel's okay for a minute?"

Daniel's fingers found my hand again. "Sam, you look so tired. Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to answer but was interrupted by Teal'c.

"Major Carter has not left your bedside since your return."

Daniel smiled up at me, and I returned the sentiment. "Go get some rest," he said.

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I'll stay here until Dad can come back for another round with the healing device."

"I know you, and you're not fine. I'm okay, really. I'm not going anywhere." His deep blue eyes pleaded with me to listen to him. "Go get some sleep, and I'll be here when you get back."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He gave me a smile that made his eyes sparkle. I felt the corners of my lips tug up automatically in response.

"Okay," I whispered. Slowly, I unfolded myself from my chair and stood up.

"Oh, _him_ you listen to?"

I just rolled my eyes at the Colonel. Daniel was safe now. He would be alright. Now, I could rest.

After one more reassuring squeeze to Daniel's hand, I made my way through the crowd of people surrounding his bed.

"I've been trying to get her to eat and sleep the entire time you've been in here," the Colonel explained to Daniel as I headed for the hallway. "I swear, she's getting as stubborn as you are."

I hesitated at the door, placing my hand on the frame as the world wobbled around me. There was a hissing in my ears that was getting louder by the second. I thought I heard Teal'c's voice but couldn't make out what he was saying through the noise. I blinked hard and put a hand to my forehead, trying to clear it.

"Sam?" Daniel's voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. I could barely hear him through the hissing.

The room began to blur. I clutched at the doorway, but my body suddenly seemed too heavy for my legs. My knees wobbled as everything started to fade into darkness.

"Carter!" shouted Colonel O'Neill's voice. "Damn it!"

The hissing intensified to a dull roar that blocked out all other sounds.

Then, everything went silent.

**To be continued...  
Please read and review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**-- Chapter 4 -- **

I watched as Sam walked slowly toward the door. Was I imagining it, or did she seem unsteady on her feet? She placed her hand on the doorframe, leaning on it. I craned my neck to see past the people standing around my bed, all smiling at me.

"She has been most concerned for your welfare," said Teal'c. "As have we all."

I glanced quickly at Teal'c, flashing him a grateful smile. Sam was still leaning against the doorframe, now with one hand on her forehead.

Something was definitely wrong. "Sam?" I called.

Jack turned toward the doorway as Sam began to crumple to the floor.

"Carter!" He rushed to her side, catching her just in time to keep her head from slamming into the concrete. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong? Is she okay?" Ignoring the pain in my side, I tried to get up, but I couldn't. With all the machines I was hooked up to, I might as well have been tied to the bed.

Jack scooped Sam up off the floor, and Janet ordered him to put her on the bed next to mine. For several agonizing minutes, Janet and her staff bustled around Sam's bed. I couldn't see much of what they were doing. It was incredibly frustrating.

"She's alright," Janet said finally. "I think it's just low blood sugar."

I looked over at Sam, unconscious on the bed next to mine. A nurse started putting an IV into the back of her right hand.

She stirred and opened her eyes, wincing at her IV. "What...?"

Janet nodded to a nurse before turning to Sam as the nurse hurried out of the infirmary. "Major Carter," she said with one hand on her hip. "You've been lying to me."

"About what?"

"When was the last time you ate anything?"

Her eyes widened for a moment and then squeezed shut. "Um," she said.

"I brought her a sandwich just before Jacob showed up," said Jack.

"Do you mean this sandwich, O'Neill?" Teal'c picked up the trash can next to my bed and tilted it toward Jack.

"For crying out loud."

I sighed. Oh, Sam. What have you done to yourself?

The nurse returned just then with a tray of food. He handed it to Janet, who set it on a table and slid it into place in front of Sam.

"I want you to eat all of this, do you understand?"

Sam scowled at the doctor but picked up a spoon and stirred the steaming bowl of soup. Janet seemed satisfied and left with a nod. Jack, however, apparently wasn't.

"That's an order, Carter."

She glared at him over her spoon. "I'm eating!" Then, to prove her point, she swallowed her first mouthful.

"Good," he said. "Otherwise I'll have to bring in the General."

Sam just sighed before she popped a piece of cheese into her mouth.

"And I'm not talking about Hammond," continued Jack. 

I smiled, knowing that the retired General Carter was very protective of his daughter, even when the threat to her was herself.

Sam wrinkled her nose and swallowed another spoonful of soup.

Teal'c remained at the foot of my bed, watching us, while Jack stood between my bed and Sam's, supervising her meal. Finally, she put down her spoon and sighed. She gave me a little smile that betrayed her exhaustion. I smiled back, and she leaned back against her pillow.

"Ah," said Jack, pointing at her tray. "Drink your juice."

I stifled a chuckle. He was such a mother hen. Though in this case she deserved it.

"I will, sir," Sam murmured as her eyelids slid closed and she fell asleep.

Jack crossed his arms over his chest with a heavy sigh and stared at her for a long moment. Finally, he rolled her table away from her bed and sat down next to me. "So, Danny-boy. You're back from the dead again. Must be Wednesday."

"I didn't die, Jack."

"Ole Doc Fraiser says you came pretty close. Gave us all a good scare."

"Perhaps the next time another team wishes to procure your services, we should include lack of impalement on the list of requirements to do so," Teal'c added.

Jack failed to suppress a snort of agreement. Assuming he'd even tried.

I winced as the memories of what happened in the vault came back to me. Haswell was dead, but I was glad the others had made it back safely.

Jack patted my arm. "You're going to be okay."

"I know." I looked over at Sam, and Jack followed my gaze. Her face was turned to the ceiling, giving us an unobstructed view of her profile. She was beautiful.

She gave a little sigh and her head rolled slightly in our direction. The movement caused a lock of hair to fall across her forehead.

I felt an overwhelming urge to brush the hair off her face. Glancing at Jack, I decided he was fighting a similar feeling. How close the four of us had become to read each other so well. To understand the tiny nuances of behaviour. Brief flashes of body language or a tone of voice spoke volumes. It was almost as if the four of us shared a psychic bond.

The three of us chatted for a few hours while Sam slept, and they told me what had happened to them while I was on my mission to PK4-808.

Soon, Jacob arrived, carrying a healing device and wearing a smile. His smile vanished when he saw who was lying on the bed next to mine.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded, rushing to Sam's side.

"She's alright," said Jack. "Was just overdue for a good meal and a long nap."

Jacob brushed back Sam's hair and touched her cheek. With a sigh, he shook his head and turned to me. He held up the healing device. "Ready to try this again?"

I nodded. "If you are."

A few minutes later, I was feeling much better. The pain in my side was barely noticeable, and my head had stopped throbbing.

"Thank you," I said.

Jacob nodded. "Anything I can do," he said as his eyes wandered past me to look at Sam in the next bed. "You know that."

Abruptly, Jack snorted and stood up, pushing his chair backwards with a loud scrape. He took a deep breath and looked about ready to say something to Jacob. But instead, he huffed angrily and began to pace.

Jacob watched him a moment, his eyebrows raised. "Something bothering you, Jack?"

"Is something—" Jack uttered a harsh, humourless laugh. "You've got some nerve, Jacob. Where the hell were you?"

Oh boy. This wasn't going to be pretty.

A frown creased Jacob's forehead. "When?"

"When? When, he says!" Jack shouted, his hands flying around in the air.

"Jack," I said, trying to sound as calming as possible. "Take a breath."

His expression softened slightly as his eyes darted from me to Sam and back again. He scowled at Jacob and sat heavily in his chair between the beds.

"What's this about?" asked Jacob.

"I can't help noticing how quickly the Tok'ra responded to our request for flying lessons in our shiny new Ha'tak." Jack's eyes narrowed as he stared at Jacob. "I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted us to give it to you."

Jacob cleared his throat and shifted on his feet.

Jack just shook his head. "Now, tell me why we should help you when you won't even return a phone call asking for help finding one of my team who's gone missing?"

Jacob's eyes moved from Jack to Teal'c and then to me. "When was this?"

Oh God. Was it possible Jacob had no idea what had happened? One thing was for sure, this was definitely not the best way for him to find out. I opened my mouth to respond, but Jack beat me to the punch.

"Oh, let's see. About six months ago?" He was on his feet again, but wisely keeping his voice at a volume that wouldn't attract Janet's attention. "Do you have any idea what Cronus does to the people he captures?"

Jacob sighed and looked sadly at Teal'c. "Look, I'm sorry, but I didn't get that message." He turned back to Jack. "How long did he—"

"At least a month," Jack snapped. "Missing for a total of two. Trading hands dozens of times in between."

Teal'c crossed his arms over his chest. "The Goa'uld are never merciful in the treatment of their prisoners."

"You think I don't know that?" Jacob was definitely starting to get angry now. "I've been in similar situations myself, you know!"

This was not going well. The tension had clearly been building for quite a while, and now that Jack had a Tok'ra target in range, poor Jacob was getting the full force of it.

"Jack," I said. But he had built up too much momentum to stop now.

"And who came to the rescue and pull you out of Hell, eh?" Jack jabbed at his chest with his thumb. "Us, that's who. So where were you when we needed you?"

"I told you, I didn't—"

"So it's okay for one of us to be tortured for weeks on end because the Tok'ra have a broken answering machine?"

It was like watching a train careening toward the end of the tracks. There was nothing I could do but watch and wait. And hope for the best when we picked up the pieces after it was all over.

"Jack, if I had known, I would have come to help. You know that. I'm sorry I—"

"It's not me you should be apologising to. It's her."

Jacob paled, his eyes darting from Jack to Sam and back again. "What?" he whispered.

Jack just huffed and shook his head, finally out of steam. The silence in the infirmary was actually palpable.

Jacob looked at Teal'c and then at me. "Sam was—" His voice broke with emotion. My heart ached for him. I knew exactly what he was feeling. We all did.

I turned away, looking over at Sam. Thankfully, the argument hadn't woken her up. Jacob moved to stand next to her bed and took her hand in his.

"She was broken when we finally got her home," Jack said very softly. "It took a long time to get the pieces put back together."

Jacob's head lowered over his daughter's hand as he brought it to his lips. "We did not know," came Selmak's voice. He didn't look up.

Jack sighed, and I knew he knew that. We sat for a long time while Jacob and Selmak silently processed the news. I couldn't help but wonder what conversation was taking place in their head.

Janet arrived and quietly checked the progress of my injuries. I was feeling much better, and she disconnected me from the machines monitoring my status. Janet told me that I was allowed to leave the infirmary as long as I stayed there for sleeping.

I was happy with the prognosis, but wasn't quite ready to take advantage of my freedom just yet. Despite having been asleep for days, I was still exhausted. As hard as I tried to stay awake while I had company, I eventually dozed off.

Some time later, I woke up to a soft whimper. Then there was a sharp intake of breath. Sam was having a nightmare. Carefully, I got out of my bed and sat in a chair next to hers. I held her hand and smoothed her hair, talking softly to her. It wasn't long before she was once again sleeping peacefully.

I looked up at the sound of a throat clearing and saw Jack leaning casually in the doorway with two cups of coffee in his hands. "One of those for me?" I asked softly, smiling at him.

Jack pushed off the door frame and handed me a steaming mug. "How's she doing?"

"She's okay." A small smile tugged on one corner of my mouth as I looked at her. "Just sleeping."

Jack nodded and pulled up a chair to sit across Sam's bed from me. "So, is there anything I should know about here?"

I frowned at him, not understanding the question. "You know everything I know. Janet said it was low blood sugar."

"That's not what I mean."

"Well, then, uh, what do you mean?"

"I mean with this." He waved his hand at Sam's sleeping form.

I studied Jack's face, trying to decipher his cryptic question. Realisation dawned, and I glanced toward the doorway where he had just been standing.

"Oh," I said quietly. He must have seen Sam's nightmare. I hesitated, not sure of what to say. I knew Sam didn't want him to know how her imprisonment by Cronus still affected her. "It's nothing to worry about, Jack, she's fine. It was just a nightmare. We all get them."

"No, that's not—" He stopped, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

"Jack?"

He just stared at me for a long time. I squinted at him, trying to figure out what his tense posture was saying. Okay, maybe I needed to rethink that whole psychic bond thing.

Finally, he shook his head. "Never mind." Jack took a sip from his mug and grimaced. "I'd better get back to working on my reports. With both you and Carter out of commission, Hammond's running out of things to read." And with that, he left the infirmary.

A few hours later, I was starting to doze off in my chair when Sam uttered a soft sigh. Her brow furrowed, and she turned her head in my direction. She opened her eyes and gave me a sleepy smile. "You're awake."

I chuckled softly. "So are you."

"Are you okay?" She tried to sit up. "Whoa," she said, falling back against her pillow and raising a hand to her head.

"Take it easy, Sam. You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little dizzy." She smiled slightly and then winced in what seemed like discomfort. Sam turned her hand over and examined her IV line, frowning. "What happened?" She looked up and to her right, where the IV bag was hanging over the head of her bed. Her frown turned to a grimace. "Oh yeah."

"You haven't been taking care of yourself."

Her eyes squeezed closed, and she turned away, obviously embarrassed. After a moment, she looked at me again. Her gazed moved down to my abdomen and back up to my face. "Are you okay?"

I smiled at her. "Don't change the subject."

"Daniel." Her eyes pleaded with me.

"I'm fine, Sam."

She frowned, clearly not liking that answer.

"I really am okay," I clarified. "A little tired, which is weird considering I've been asleep for days, but there it is." I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring look. "Jacob and Selmak did a good job. One more round with the healing device and I should be good as new."

"That's good." She smiled and sighed, looking around the infirmary. "What time is it?"

I checked my watch and gave her a lopsided grin. "Thursday."

Sam's eyes widened. "What? How long have I..."

"About twenty-three hours."

"Holy Hannah."

"Why haven't you been taking care of yourself?"

"I was worried about you."

"That's not much of an excuse."

"It is to me."

I sighed and took her hand in mine. "Sam," I said softly. I lifted her hand and surprised myself by kissing the back of her fingers. She didn't pull away, so I tried not to worry about it.

My eyes searched hers, trying to understand how she could have forgotten to eat while I was injured. It wasn't like her to be negligent. She stared back at me for a long moment. Her thumb brushed across my cheek. My eyes half-closed at the touch, and I felt myself smile against her fingers.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Dad," said Sam, smiling a greeting to the man at the door.

I straightened in my chair and cleared my throat, trying to get a handle on the unexpected emotions sweeping through me.

Jacob walked up. "Hey, kiddo. What've you gotten yourself into now?"

"I'm okay, Dad."

"Sure you are." Jacob pulled up a chair on the other side of Sam's bed and sat down. "Now." He smiled at his daughter before looking up at me.

I nodded and gave Sam's hand a squeeze. "I'll let you two catch up."

Sam smiled warmly at me, and it felt like sunshine. "Thanks, Daniel."

With another nod to Jacob, I headed out of the infirmary and toward my office. I had a lot to think about. And probably a lot of work waiting for me on my desk. It would be best if I got started on both right away.

**To be continued...  
Please read and review. **


	5. Chapter 5

**-- Chapter 5 -- **

"Sammy, I am so sorry."

"For what, Dad?" I studied his expression and realised what he meant. I squeezed my eyes closed for a moment. "Oh God. They told you."

"I didn't know. I swear."

"I know that. Please don't worry. I'm fine."

"When I find out who it was that didn't pass along the message that you were in trouble—"

"Dad, please," I interrupted. "It doesn't matter. I really am okay."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I half expected to be talking to Selmak when he looked at me again.

"Jack's pretty angry," my dad said.

I smiled. Perhaps Selmak was just helping to calm Dad down. That was good. I liked Selmak.

"I know. But it doesn't matter. Cronus is dead. And I'm fine."

"And you stole his Ha'tak." Dad smiled at me. "Nice job."

I laughed. "Yeah, Colonel O'Neill's pretty excited about that."

"He thinks the only reason I came was because of the ship. He thinks I wouldn't have come to help Daniel if he'd asked."

"No, Dad, that's not..." I sighed, knowing that he might be right. "It's not you. It's just—"

"The Tok'ra in general."

I winced.

"Yeah," he said. "And I'm afraid the request I have to make isn't going to help matters much."

"What request is that?"

"Well, we'd sort of like to borrow your Ha'tak."

My eyebrows rose. "Oh."

"I've talked to George about it, and he said that as soon as you're on your feet again, he'll discuss it with your team."

"Sounds good," I said, nodding.

He took my hand between his, squeezing it firmly. "It just kills me to know what he did to you."

I sighed. We were back to the Cronus issue. "Dad, please. I know this is new to you, but you have to believe me. I'm okay." I smiled at him, squeezing his hand.

My dad stared at me for a long time, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions. I lifted my hand and cupped his cheek. "Really," I said firmly.

Suddenly, he pulled me into a hug, crushing the air out of my lungs.

"I love you, Sam."

"I love you too, Dad."

"If I had known—"

"I know. It's not your fault."

He drew back slightly, making it much easier for me to breathe, and gazed intently into my eyes. "You're really okay?"

I pulled his head down to kiss his forehead. "I am." It seemed I was finally getting through to him, so I smiled. "Now, I'm just itching to get out of here. Can you put in a good word for me with the warden?"

Dad chuckled and ruffled my hair. "You got it, kiddo."

"I'll see you at the briefing."

I watched as he headed off for Janet's office. A few minutes later, he emerged. He gave me a wink and a thumbs up as he passed my bed on his way to the hallway. Good. I waited impatiently for a few minutes to pass so it wouldn't be so obvious I sent Dad to talk to her. I was about to make a break for Janet's office when Doctor Bedard poked her head into the room.

"Um, Major Carter?"

I looked at her warily. I wasn't all that fond of her to begin with, and the fact that her actions had nearly killed Daniel certainly wasn't earning her any bonus points. But she looked apologetic enough. I nodded to her, and she approached my bed.

"I'm so sorry. It was all my fault." The words tumbled out of her mouth in a jumble. "I should have been able to figure out the lock on my own. And I should have realised that the other control panel was booby-trapped. I should have known. I've been studying Sumerian since I was twelve."

Wow. Three whole years. I stifled my protest as she sat down in a chair next to my bed and covered her face with her hands. I looked around desperately, but there was no one to rescue me.

"I nearly got everyone killed. Ed and Doctor Jackson—" Bedard's voice broke into a sob, and she lowered her head to rest on the side of my bed.

I pursed my lips, watching as her red curls bounced with her sobs. Feeling more than a little awkward, I placed a hand on her trembling shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she sniffled into the mattress. "I–I don't think I'm cut out for this job."

It was possible she was right, but a single botched mission shouldn't be the deciding factor. And she did seem pretty broken up about her involvement over what had happened to Daniel. I sighed. "You wouldn't have been brought into the program without good reason. I know from your file that you're an exceptional linguist."

She took a deep, shuddering breath and lifted her head. "I never meant—"

"Of course you didn't," I interrupted, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm sorry about Colonel Haswell."

Bedard's face scrunched up, and I was afraid she was going to start crying again. But she lifted her eyes to the ceiling and blinked several times, clearly regaining control of herself.

"Thank you, Major," she finally said. Then she looked at me with startling intensity. "I need you to know that you don't have to worry about me. It's just a crush. Nothing happened."

I blinked at her, confused by the non-sequitur. "What are you talking about?"

"I can tell that he cares for you a great deal."

"Who?"

"Doctor Jackson." She sniffed again, swiping away a curl that had glued itself to her tearstained cheek. "I stopped by earlier to see how he was doing. I was happy to see that he was sitting up with you. You seemed to be having a nightmare, and he was speaking to you in that wonderfully soothing voice of his."

Bedard paused, flashing me the tiniest of smiles. "I couldn't help but stare at the two of you. It was just beautiful. Like something out of a movie. Colonel O'Neill caught me though. I don't think he likes me much. He's, uh... He's a little scary."

I tried not to laugh. I really did. But a chuckle escaped anyway. I could just imagine the Colonel's reaction on catching someone spying on his team. Scary wasn't normally a word I'd use to describe Colonel O'Neill, but in that situation and from Bedard's position, I could see how she might think so. Especially since the Colonel probably _didn't_ like her much.

Though I bet his dislike of her would pale in comparison to the wrath he'd be visiting on Jankowicz.

"Anyway," she continued quickly. "What I'm trying to say is that you're a very lucky woman, and I wish you all the happiness in the world with Doctor Jackson." She stood up and squeezed my hand. "I only hope I can regain your trust."

And just like that, she walked away. I watched, dumbfounded, as she disappeared through the door to the hallway.

All the happiness in the world with Daniel? What was she talking about? Did she think...?

I shook my head at the empty doorway. Of course I loved him. I loved all of my teammates. There was nothing more to it than that.

Was there?

A movement out of the corner of my eye made me turn my attention from the door. Janet was standing nearby, a smug little grin on her face.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh..." She drew out the syllable, her eyebrows raised. "Long enough," she finally finished.

"Janet," I warned.

She started making notes on my chart, a too-innocent expression on her face. "What?"

I just stared at her. One thing I knew: Janet's scheming couldn't cope with silence. It was a technique Dad had always used on me any time he thought I was hiding something from him, and it helped Cassie deal with her mother all the time. Janet really hadn't been impressed after I'd taught her that.

Sure enough, she broke. "I'm just saying," Janet said with an overly casual shrug. "She has a point."

When I rolled my eyes, she continued. "Think about it, Sam. He was injured, and you _forgot to eat_ for five days. That says a lot, in my opinion. And you should have seen the look on his face when you collapsed."

"Aren't you the same one who was worried that there was a problem between me and the Colonel while he was trapped on Edora last year?"

She waved her hand dismissively at me. "This is different. Daniel's a civilian." My scepticism must have shown on my face because she smiled and patted my arm. "I'm just saying maybe you should think about it."

I should have told her the same thing I had told her last year. That of course there wasn't a problem. That there was nothing to worry about because her imagination was getting away from her. Again.

But this time, I wasn't so sure. Although I had never considered it before, there was a hint of truth to her words. And the idea scared me to death.

As if she could hear my thoughts, Janet's smile broadened. "You're clear to go. I know General Hammond is anxious to have that briefing with your team and Jacob. I'll let him know you're available, but I want you to eat something before that." Her eyes twinkled mischievously at me. "And check on Daniel for me, will you? Make sure he eats something too. I'd go myself, but I'm just so swamped in here."

Janet gestured to her infirmary which, apart from me, was completely empty.

"Very subtle, Janet."

She grinned at me. "I thought so. Now, shoo. Before I think of a reason to keep you here another day."

A few minutes later, I poked my head into Daniel's office. It looked tidier than it had in years, and he was thumbing through what looked like reports in a folder.

When I knocked lightly on the doorframe, he looked up and smiled at me. I felt the fluttering of butterflies in my stomach, but with a deep breath, I managed to push the sensation away.

"You busy?" I asked.

"Actually, no." Daniel pushed the folder aside and gestured at his desk, which was nearly empty. "I thought I'd been robbed when I found my office like this, but turns out Julie Bedard organised my staff for bit of a translation blitz." He shrugged helplessly. "Honestly, I've never felt more useless."

I chuckled, knowing that Daniel didn't like being idle any more than I did. Still. "That was nice of her."

"Yeah, it was," he said softly.

I refused to acknowledge the slight twinge in my gut as jealousy. What had Janet and Bedard done to me? I was clearly more susceptible to suggestion than I'd thought.

"Janet's ordered me to eat before the briefing and to make sure you do the same."

Daniel grinned and stood up. "Best not disobey her orders then."

We headed to the commissary to find it nearly empty. After grabbing some food at the counter, we looked around. Colonel O'Neill was there, staring blankly at a wall. I glanced at Daniel and saw the same confused concern I was feeling on his face.

"Jack?" Daniel asked as we approached.

I jumped, startled, when the Colonel pumped a fist in the air in apparent triumph.

"Yes!" he said quietly. "And he picks up a spare in the final frame."

"Uh, sir?"

Colonel O'Neill looked up at me as if only just noticing we were there. "Hey, guys. Out of the infirmary, I see. Good for you. Knew you could do it."

"You okay, Jack?" asked Daniel.

The Colonel leaned back in his chair, weaving his fingers behind his head. "Just relaxing. Why?"

Daniel squinted at him. "Picks up a spare?"

"What?" His eyes widened in defence. "It's Thursday night!"

I took a deep breath, preparing to pursue my commanding officer's most recent unusual behaviour further, but he interrupted me.

"Carter, don't tell me you're going to eat. What a clever idea, you genius, you."

I endured the Colonel's teasing as we all ate a quick meal. When we'd finished, we headed for the briefing room. Teal'c, General Hammond, and Dad were already there, discussing the fate of Cronus's Jaffa. 

"The remainder of his forces not on Juna will likely be absorbed into Apophis's ranks," Dad was saying.

Teal'c nodded. "Apophis has indeed become the most powerful System Lord. It will prove most difficult to defeat him."

Dad took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He said nothing, but I knew he and Selmak thought that was our fault.

"Oh, come on," said Colonel O'Neill as he took a seat next to Teal'c. "He's got to be down to his last life by now."

Daniel and I sat down across the table from Dad and our teammates.

"The reason I've called this briefing is that Jacob has a request to make of us," said General Hammond.

Colonel O'Neill crossed his arms over his chest. "Let me guess. The Tok'ra want a favour."

They began discussing the risks and benefits of lending the Ha'tak we had captured to the Tok'ra to move their base of operations. I listened as Daniel argued with the Colonel. Bedard was right. Daniel's voice _was_ soothing.

I stole a few glances at him out of the corner of my eye. He was gesturing broadly with his hands. He had really nice hands, too. And how long had it been since I noticed how handsome he was?

"Sam?"

I looked across the table at Dad, who was looking at me expectantly, a tiny smile playing on his lips. Oh crap. My mind backtracked into the conversation I had only been half-listening to. "Um, yes," I said, hoping my memory wouldn't fail me. "I think flying lessons in exchange for helping move the Tok'ra base is very fair."

Teal'c nodded. "I am not suitably qualified to pilot a Ha'tak. The assistance of the Tok'ra would be most appreciated."

Oh good. So I hadn't been as inattentive as I'd feared. Silently, I cursed Bedard and Janet for putting such crazy thoughts and feelings about Daniel into my head. I forced myself to push them out of my mind and focus on the task at hand.

"Not you too, T," groaned the Colonel.

I turned to General Hammond. "It could take us months to learn to properly fly that ship on our own, sir."

"And with our help," continued Dad. "We could get your team up to speed over the course of this mission."

Colonel O'Neill shook his head. "General, I'm telling you this is a bad idea. Let the Tok'ra get their own ship. They don't share with us, why should we share with them? It's not like they're always jumping at the chance to help us out in our time of need, are they?"

Dad's eyes were moving back and forth between me and Daniel, and I recognised the scheming expression on his face. He saw me studying him and gave me an innocent smile before leaning forward over the table to look around Teal'c.

"Actually, Jack," he said. "There's something else in this deal that might benefit Earth."

"Oh? Do tell."

"We found a device not long ago in what we believe was an outpost used by the Ancients. We haven't been able to get it to do much, and we were hoping that Sam and Daniel might be able to help us figure it out."

I narrowed my eyes at Dad, wondering what he was up to.

"That sounds a lot like you needing more of our help."

Dad smiled patiently at Colonel O'Neill. "It's Ancient technology that we're willing to share, Jack."

"I'll believe that when I see it." The Colonel turned back to General Hammond. "I still think this is a bad idea, sir."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Colonel," said General Hammond. "Because I happen to agree with Jacob and the rest of your team. The potential benefits outweigh the risks, and I think this mission will strengthen the Tok'ra-Earth alliance."

Colonel O'Neill's cheeks puffed out with a sigh, but he nodded. "Yes, sir."

With the meeting ended, Dad followed General Hammond into his office while my team and I left the briefing room to prepare for the mission. A few hours later, we were on Juna, sending SG teams 5 and 9 back home. Dad took the controls, and we lifted off. The Tok'ra base on Vorash was four days away by ship. The Colonel and Teal'c kept themselves busy with to Dad's flight lessons. I, on the other hand, was having trouble concentrating.

If I was completely honest with myself, being on the ship kind of creeped me out. It hadn't bothered me a week ago when we were battling Cronus's Jaffa, but now, with very little to do, and one empty corridor after another, the ship was getting to me.

Daniel had noticed, I think. But with Bedard's and Janet's words still ringing in my ears, I was having a hard time relaxing around him too. Which was another thing I think he had noticed.

Well into the third day, I'd had about enough. I excused myself from the bridge, retiring to the room where we had set up our cots. And I fell into a restless sleep.

It was cold. My spine tingled with the presence of nearby naquadah. This was a dream. It had to be a dream.

Suddenly, something icy touched my arm. My eyes flew open, greeted by the unwelcome sight of a gold-symbolled wall. My arm was resting against the cold wall, and the naquadah was even closer. Right behind me.

With a gasp, I sat up and struck out at the intruder. But my blow was stopped, my arm held firmly in mid-air.

"Whoa!"

That was Dad's voice. I forced my eyes to focus and finally saw him. His fingers were wrapped around my wrist, just inches away from his jaw. His other hand held a blanket. I relaxed, and he released me.

"Sorry," I muttered, rubbing the cold touch of the wall out of my arm. "Forgot where I was for a second."

He let out a heavy sigh and sat on the cot next to me. "This is your idea of 'okay'?"

I closed my eyes. "Dad, please."

My eyes opened as he tucked the blanket around my shoulders. "You were shivering," he said softly.

"Thanks." I smiled at him but felt it slowly fade away as he looked back at me. The expression on his face was one I had seen far too many times growing up. I squirmed under his steady gaze.

"It was just a nightmare, Dad."

He continued staring silently at me, clearly not satisfied with that explanation.

"I know how it looks, but I'm okay. You can't tell me you don't have nightmares about some of the things you've been through."

His expression softened. I took it as an encouraging sign.

"I have fantastic medical staff on my side," I continued. "And the best support system of friends I can imagine."

One corner of his mouth tugged up in a smile. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was short-lived.

"And more than friends, it would seem."

Oh no. "What?" I asked, hoping I was misunderstanding him.

"You and Daniel?"

I closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead. A conspiracy. That was what this was.

"I'm not blind, Sammy. And Selmak's pretty quick to pick up on that sort of thing. Even used the phrase 'kindred spirits' to describe the two of you."

With a deep breath, I turned to him. "Dad, there's nothing going on."

"Well, why not?"

I blinked. This was a very strange conversation to be having with my father.

"We're really, really good friends. That's all." I tried my best to hide the fact that while that might be true, it didn't preclude the fact that I was considering the possibility that I might want more.

"You sure about that?"

Apparently, I failed. Time to change the subject. "How much longer until we get to Vorash?"

I wasn't sure he was going to let me get away with such a blatant avoidance tactic, but after a moment, he shrugged. "Should be about an hour or so." He grinned. "But with Jack at the controls, who knows."

Sure enough, an hour later, we entered orbit above the Tok'ra base, and the five of us ringed down into the tunnels. Both the Colonel and Teal'c seemed quite pleased by Tanith's surprise at our arrival.

The Tok'ra quickly took Tanith into custody and began loading their supplies and equipment onto our ship. I was surprised when Dad invited us to attend the High Council meeting to discuss Tanith's sentencing.

Jalen sat at the head of the table, clearly representing High Councillor Per'sus. "If we wish our new base of operations to remain secure, Tanith cannot be permitted to know of it," she said.

"Indeed," said Ren'al. "His usefulness has come to an end. His actions have been duplicitous."

Jalen looked at her, clearly surprised. "You propose that we execute him?"

"No. He has provided us with the opportunity to move freely through Goa'uld space. Without his dissemination of false information to Apophis, we would never have been able to retrieve hundreds of our operatives and allies."

Both Colonel O'Neill and Daniel tensed on either side of me. I put a hand on each of their arms and, with a gentle squeeze, silently asked them to remain calm, though I'd probably feel the same way if our situations had been reversed.

Of course, the one I really should have been trying to keep calm was Dad, because he was suddenly on his feet.

"There's at least one person that we didn't retrieve though, isn't there? Which of you was the one to receive the message from Earth saying that my daughter was missing?"

If there had been insect life on Vorash, we probably could have heard crickets chirping in the silence that followed Dad's outburst. I winced as he slammed his fists down on the table.

Dad addressed Thoran, apparently having seen some sign of guilt in his features. "How could you not have told me?"

"Tanith's misinformation only gave us insight into the movements of Apophis and his fleets. We had no intelligence reports coming from Cronus's forces." Thoran looked around the table at the rest of the High Council. "You were on a vital mission at the time, and it was decided that we could not afford for you to be distracted from the task at hand."

Dad's face was growing red with anger. "Distracted from—" His head suddenly dipped down and his eyes closed. When he looked up again, the redness had begun to fade and Selmak spoke. "I am deeply disappointed and betrayed. The mission could have been postponed. Or another operative could have taken over in my stead."

He gave me a kind look before glaring at the other Tok'ra at the table. "Major Carter is not only the daughter of my host, but she also possesses the memories of Jolinar of Malkshur. We owe her a great debt, for during the time she was tortured by Cronus, she did not divulge any information about our operations." Selmak sat down again. "And despite our repeated failure to respond to their requests for assistance, the Tau'ri have still agreed to lend us their Ha'tak during our time of need."

"It is because of the Tau'ri that the Tok'ra are in danger of extinction!" said Thoran. "Their ill-advised and poorly designed attacks on the System Lords have allowed Apophis to gain more power than he has ever had before."

Jalen stood up, pushing her chair backwards with a loud scrape. "Please, we are getting away from the topic we must discuss. We are here to sentence Tanith. I propose that we remove him from the host and leave him on Vorash when we abandon this base."

Around the table, all heads nodded their approval of the proposal.

"Then it is settled. And as for the other issue..." Jalen sat down again and looked straight at Dad. "You are correct. You should have been informed." She looked at the other members of the High Council, her eyes finally falling on Thoran. "Fighting amongst ourselves will accomplish nothing. If we are to defeat the Goa'uld, we must be honest and trusting of each other. Otherwise, we are no better than they are."

Thoran met Jalen's gaze steadily for a tense moment but then nodded. Teal'c requested the honour of informing Tanith of his fate, which the High Council granted. The meeting was called to a close, and Thoran gave me what I decided was an apologetic nod as he left.

The transfer of equipment from the underground base to our Ha'tak in orbit continued. The transport rings were certainly getting good use over the last few hours. I was helping a couple of Tok'ra secure some containers in one of the cargo bays when Dad and Daniel showed up.

"Ah," said Dad. "Here it is." He gestured for Daniel and I to gather around one of the large containers in a corner.

"This is that device I was telling you about from the Ancient outpost." Dad opened the lid. "Our notes and equipment have already been packed away, but when we get settled into our new base, maybe you two can have a crack at it."

"This is incredible," said Daniel excitedly. He pushed the lid up further to see more of the device.

"You'll probably have to spend a lot of long hours alone together trying to figure this thing out."

I glared at Dad, but he just smiled innocently. Despite my father's apparent matchmaking interests, I had to admit that the idea of an Ancient technological puzzle was intriguing. And to be honest, the idea of having a reasonable excuse to work closely with Daniel was even more appealing than usual.

As Daniel's fingers danced over some of the writings on the device, my mind conjured an image of those fingers moving over my skin. I gulped. What was I thinking? Could it be? Were Janet, Dad, and Doctor Bedard right?

I knew I loved him, that much went without saying. But now I was starting to worry that I was in love with him. How could I have let that happen? When did I start wanting more from him than just his friendship?

Daniel glanced my way, giving me an excited little smile that caused my stomach to backflip.

Oh God. This was a disaster.

**To be continued...  
Please read and review. **


	6. Chapter 6

**-- Chapter 6 -- **

Something had changed.

I didn't know what it was, but Sam was avoiding me. Then again, maybe she wasn't. There was a lot going on as the Tok'ra moved their supplies and equipment onto our Ha'tak and their few scout ships.

Jack was doing most of the supervising – he kept complaining that they were going to mark up the walls and scuff the floors – but maybe Sam was busy with that as well. Or maybe being in the Tok'ra tunnels again was bringing back more of Jolinar's memories and she wanted to be alone. Or maybe seeing Cronus had bothered her more than I realised. Or maybe—

With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. This was getting me nowhere. I really needed something to do. Anything to keep my mind off the memory of Sam's gentle touch in the infirmary just a few days ago. I hadn't meant to kiss her fingers, but it had happened.

I had to admit that during those months just after her rescue from Cronus, when I used to wake up with her in my arms, a few inappropriate thoughts had crossed my mind. But I had squashed them down, ignored them as much as I could, expected them to go away. I certainly never expected them to become...this.

"Everything okay?"

I looked up and was surprised to see Sam standing in the doorway. She seemed hesitant, almost nervous.

"Yeah," I said as I stood and approached her. "You?"

She just smiled and nodded, which did nothing to reassure me that she was alright. I knew her better than that. I reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away, running her hand through her hair. I tried not to react.

"I was just on my way to a meeting with the Tok'ra," Sam said. "Their gear's all loaded, so we can start transporting people on board soon."

I nodded, following her down the hall. "How long will that take?"

She wrinkled her nose. "If they had more than one ring platform, it'd go a lot faster. As it is, we were already pushing the limits of the matter stream's pattern buffer with all of the equipment. It might take a day, maybe a day and a half, to get everyone on board."

We met with Jack, Teal'c, and a number of the Tok'ra in their council chamber, and Sam brought everyone up to date. However, the meeting was interrupted when an alarm went off. A few seconds later, Jacob arrived to inform us that Tanith had escaped.

Jack and Teal'c joined one Tok'ra search party while I joined another. After a few hours of searching, it was obvious we weren't going to find the escaped Goa'uld. My team checked on the contingent that was guarding the stargate, and then returned to the base. I found Sam in one of the control rooms with Jalen and Jacob.

She looked up as I entered, her expression tense. "Is the Colonel with you?"

"No, he and Teal'c are still searching for Tanith."

"Looks like we have a bigger problem," said Jacob. "Can you get to the surface and get him on your radio?"

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I nodded and headed for the ring platform. I had just arrived when the rings activated. When the flash of light faded, Jack and a couple of the Tok'ra from his search party were standing before me.

"Any sign of him?" I asked, already knowing the answer. The fact that Teal'c wasn't with Jack was a dead giveaway.

"Nope, Teal'c's still looking."

"You guys have been out there for hours already."

Jack shrugged. "It's a Jaffa revenge thing."

"Ah. Uh, Sam and Jacob sent me. They want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I don't know. They just said we have a bigger problem."

"Oh, good." Jack nodded as we started down the corridor. "I was so hoping there'd be a bigger problem."

It turned out that our 'bigger problem' was that Tanith had managed to contact Apophis and had given him the coordinates for Vorash. To deal with the Tok'ra threat once and for all, Apophis was apparently sending the largest attack fleet ever assembled. And to make matters even more exciting, he was expected to arrive in less than a day.

Since the ring transporters were already being pushed to the limits, Sam and Jacob had come up with a new plan. A rather crazy plan. Definitely ambitious. But it was amazing. And did I mention crazy?

Instead of taking the Tok'ra by ship to their new planet, Sam wanted to send them through the gate, then dial P3W-451, the planet where we encountered the black hole two years ago. If we were able to establish a connection, the plan was to jettison the active stargate into Vorash's sun. Apparently, the idea was that the black hole would suck some of the star's matter through the gate. The star would destabilize and explode, taking out Apophis's fleet in the process.

Yup. Blowing up a star. That was actually the plan.

Despite his understandable wariness, Jack agreed, and the Tok'ra base was a flurry of activity once more. There wasn't enough time to get all of the equipment off of the Ha'tak and through the Stargate. Getting the people to safety was the priority, so only the most important items were transported back to the surface.

In an effort to accelerate the evacuation process, the Tok'ra grew a tunnel to the surface. A few hours later, only a few Tok'ra remained on Vorash, the rest having gated to a new planet called Revanna. The ones that stayed behind would leave on the cargo ships that had already been loaded and were waiting nearby.

Once Apophis's fleet was dealt with, we'd fly to Revanna and resume the original plan with a change of scenery – taking the stargate and the Tok'ra to an uncharted planet.

Sam, Jacob, and a few of the other Tok'ra began working to fit Vorash's stargate with a force field and some thrusters that would allow the gate to be safely jettisoned from the Ha'tak into Vorash's sun. It all appeared to be very complicated, so I left to see if I could find Teal'c. I hadn't seen him since being told his search party had returned without finding Tanith.

He was in one of the chambers within the Tok'ra base, meditating with a crystal. Someone had told him of the change of plans, but I was concerned for my friend. Despite the impossibility of Tanith surviving the supernova and the fact that we were about to take down Apophis, Teal'c still seemed disturbed.

"Knowing what Apophis did to Sha're, and what Cronus did to Major Carter, would you not wish for the opportunity to crush the life from their throats with your bare hands?"

Jack was right. This _was_ a Jaffa revenge thing. I stared at the crystal on the pillow before us for a moment, collecting my thoughts. "I've thought about it," I finally admitted. However, from what he and Jack had told me about the mission to Juna, Cronus had got what was coming to him without my help.

"As have I," said Teal'c.

"But the thing is, helping Sam get through what happened to her has made me realize something. Holding onto the pain, anger, and guilt for events in the past only serves to make you miserable in the present and future. I helped her see that she could move forward past those feelings. In the process, I moved on myself. And I think we're both better for it."

"I do not believe Major Carter has forgotten the events of her captivity with Cronus."

"No, of course not. And I haven't forgotten Sha're either. What I'm trying to say is that it isn't healthy to live like that. With the constant need for revenge. When you hold onto fond memories with that kind of hatred and anger inside of you, it changes the memories. It deforms them. You have to let go before it turns your memories into something they're not."

Teal'c didn't say anything, but I could tell that he was digesting my words. What I didn't tell him was that being able to let go of the pain and guilt I had felt over Sha're's abduction and death had brought me to another important realisation. Sha're wouldn't have wanted me to be angry and alone for the rest of my life. She would have wanted me to find a way to be happy. To really live, not just survive. Just as I would have wanted for her if our roles had been reversed.

Over the last several months, Sam had unknowingly helped me recover as much as I had helped her. I didn't even notice when she started to heal the gaping hole in my heart left by Sha're's death. Only, over the last few days, Sam seemed to be pulling away. I couldn't bear the thought of feeling that empty again.

"Perhaps you are correct, Daniel Jackson. However, I am unable to release my anger at this time."

I smiled and rested my hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't happen overnight, Teal'c." I nodded my head toward the door. "Come on. Let's go see how the new plan is going."

We ringed back to the surface to find our friends doing a final check on the stargate. It was strapped to the underbelly of Jalen's Tel'tak.

"Jalen's going to fly the gate into one of the cargo bays on our mothership," Jacob explained to us.

"Uh, excuse me?" Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Jack. _Your_ mothership. Once it's secure, both Tel'taks will be taken out of this star system to observe the explosion from a safe distance."

"Great," said Jack. "Well, let's get up there then." He looked around at the sand, a perturbed expression on his face.

Sam took a few steps and stopped. "Here, sir."

"How do you _know_ that?" he asked as we all gathered close together on what I assumed was the ring platform.

"The rings are made of naquadah, like the stargate." They activated, transporting us to the pel'tak level of our ship. "I can sense where they are."

"Ah." Jack grimaced. "In that case, never mind."

We followed Jacob and Sam onto the bridge. I looked around as they checked some consoles.

"Ooh!" Jack hopped up onto Cronus's gaudy throne, grinning excitedly. "Shotgun."

"I have Apophis's fleet on long-range sensors," Jacob said, ignoring Jack's antics. "He should be here in sixty-eight minutes."

Sam's teeth tugged at her bottom lip. "The timing is critical. If we launch the gate too early, the sun will explode before the fleet arrives."

I glanced over at Teal'c, wondering if he felt as useless as I did right now.

"Is Apophis going to have much advance warning of what's going on?" asked Jack.

"No." Jacob shook his head. "He won't be able to detect the gate because of interference from the star's natural emissions. And he'll have no idea that Vorash has been evacuated until they're in orbit. But by then, it'll be too late."

"Good. So what's next?"

"Next..." Jacob turned to Sam. "We prepare to jettison the stargate."

She nodded and Jack hopped off his throne.

Jacob held up his hand. "Actually, Jack, Sam might need some help translating the consoles in the cargo bay."

I looked at him, confused. That was an odd thing for him to say. Sam hadn't needed help translating Goa'uld control systems for a long time. And was it my imagination, or did she glare at Jacob for his suggestion? I tried not to let my disappointment at her reaction show. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what had changed to cause Sam to become upset at the thought of us working together.

Jack shrugged. "Whatever."

Sam was definitely avoiding my gaze as she walked past me toward the hallway. We stopped when we heard Jack's voice.

"Hey, what's this?"

Turning back, we saw him standing over a blue console that was rising out of the floor.

"That is the weapons' console, O'Neill," said Teal'c. "The tile under your foot has activated it."

"Cool." Jack stepped up to it, a blue light from the console shining on his face. His eyes widened, and he waved a hand in the air in front of him. "Whoa!"

Jacob smiled. "The tactical display provides information about weapons, ship's systems, detailed sensor readings... Basically, it's a three-dimensional HUD that's projected directly into the user's eyes."

Sam perked up at that. "Really? We've been doing some research into the development of virtual retinal displays."

"You think you can hook up something like this to my TV, Carter?" Jack was clearly thrilled with whatever it was he was seeing. "Mmm...hockey in 3-D..."

She chuckled softly. "I'll look into it, sir."

Jack placed his hands on the blue globes on either side of the console, apparently manipulating the images he was seeing. "Sure took forever to come out of the floor though."

"Its advanced sensors use up a lot of power," explained Jacob. "It's simply more efficient to leave the console inactive until it's required."

"Yeah? Well, what if there was an emergency? I'd call it a design flaw."

Jacob just shook his head, turning back to his monitors, and Sam and I headed for the cargo bays.

The ship's communication system clicked on. "We're approaching the sun," came Jacob's voice. "Slowing to five percent light speed."

Sam nodded, tapping some controls. "Show time," she said softly as the doors to the cargo bay opened. The stargate was secured in the bay with two docking clamps at its base.

"What do we do if we can't connect to the gate on P3W-451?" I asked.

She wrinkled her nose. "We won't have much choice but to abort the mission and deal with Apophis later."

"We're in position," said Jacob. "Ready when—"

"Hey, Jacob," came Jack's voice. "These are the sensors, right? What's this squiggly thing here?"

There was a pause, and then Jacob said, "Hang on, Sam."

"Dad, the timing on this has—"

"I know. Just hang on a minute."

There was a click, and then silence. "Dad?" Sam's eyes widened as the silence continued. She gave me an incredulous look. "He hung up on us!"

I just shrugged. Truthfully, I was glad to have a few minutes alone with Sam while no one was listening in. Maybe I could get to the bottom of what was bothering her. "You okay?"

Sam's cheeks puffed out with a heavy sigh. "Yeah." She wasn't looking at me. Her hands moved through the air over the panel before her in a repeating pattern over a sequence of controls. She looked out at the stargate in the cargo bay and rubbed her forehead.

"You sure about that?" I asked quietly, taking a step closer.

She glanced my way, a slight smile on her lips. "I'm fine. Just..." She sighed again and uttered a weak laugh. "Just a little nervous."

"Well," I said, leaning back against the console so I could face her. "That's understandable. You've never blown up a star before."

Without warning, she snorted. The snort gave way to a chuckle, and all I could do was watch in awe as Major Samantha Carter was quickly overcome by a fit of laughter.

"What?" I asked, grinning. "You _have_ blown one up before?"

That was when she doubled over and collapsed to the ground.

The hilarity was contagious, and I couldn't help but join her, snickering away on the floor, even though I didn't know what had triggered it. Sam leaned into me, her forehead resting on my shoulder. I welcomed the contact and wrapped my arms around her.

"What's so funny?" I managed to choke out.

She lifted her head to look at me, tears streaming down her smiling face. "It's just so...obvious! Of course I've never blown up a star before!" And with that, she relaxed into my arms again as we descended once more into gasps of laugher.

When was the last time I'd laughed this hard? Clearly, it had been far too long. It felt fantastic. Though the feel of Sam in my arms and having her relax around me again probably had a lot to do with that, too.

Abruptly, the mood seemed to change. Our laugher died down, and I became acutely aware of Sam's hot breath tickling my neck. I felt her nose graze my jaw as she slowly lifted her head. And when she looked into my eyes, my breath caught in my throat.

Her lips were just inches from mine. She couldn't want me to kiss her... Could she? With my heart pounding in my ears, I leaned slightly forward, watching her for any sign I should stop. I couldn't see any.

Then, several low vibrations rumbled through the ship, breaking the spell. Sam pulled away. She stood up, looking around in alarm. "That's weapons fire."

I also stood, listening for further sounds from the ship. "Are we under attack?"

"Don't think so. Sounds like it's coming from us."

The ship's communication system clicked back on, and Jacob's voice filled the room. "Sorry about that, guys. Jack spotted a cloaked Al'kesh on the tactical display. We managed to take them out before they realised we had seen them, though."

Sam frowned. "How did it get here so fast?"

"I don't know," said Jacob. "It can't be part of Apophis's fleet."

"Perhaps the ship was intended to retrieve Tanith," came Teal'c's voice.

"That makes sense. He could have had it waiting for him in a neighbouring system the whole time," said Jacob.

"He will not escape this time." The satisfaction in Teal'c's voice was undeniable.

"Did he signal Apophis?" asked Jack. "Tell him what's going on?"

There was a pause, and Sam glanced at me for a brief moment before staring at the floor near her boots.

Jacob's voice came through the communication system again. "Looks like we destroyed the ship before they could alert anyone. Apophis's fleet is still on course to arrive in fifty-nine minutes. You can release the gate as soon as you're ready, Sam."

She gave a tight nod. "Copy that."

I watched as she began the remote dialling sequence. "Are we still on schedule?" I asked.

The stargate whooshed to life, and she checked her watch. "It's going to be tight," she muttered, not looking at me. Then, louder, she said, "The gate on P3W-451 is still active. Wormhole established. Engaging the force field."

She pressed a button on the control panel and a red field of energy crackled to life around the gate. The event horizon had already begun to move in a slow spiral from the gravitational effects of the black hole on the other end of the wormhole.

"Opening cargo bay doors." Sam pressed another button on the console.

I watched her confident actions, frowning slightly. She didn't need my help. What had Jacob been thinking?

"Releasing the clamps," she said.

We watched as the docking clamps disengaged. Sam tapped a few symbols on the panel. The thrusters that had been attached to the stargate gave short bursts, and the gate drifted out of the cargo bay. She checked the sensor readouts in front of her and adjusted the gate's heading with a few more taps to the thruster controls.

Moments later, she seemed satisfied with the information displayed on the console. "The gate is away." The cargo bay doors closed.

"Alright," said Jacob. "The trajectory looks good. Prepare for hyperspeed." The communication system clicked off, and Sam and I braced ourselves as the ship blurred for a moment.

"That's it," she said, checking her watch again. "Fifty-four minutes until the sun goes nova."

"Do we have enough time to get to a safe distance?"

"Um." Sam's eyes moved over the console, the walls, the floor. Anything but me. "Fifty minutes at hyperspeed should get us just over three light years away. That should be fine. And if the explosion is larger than anticipated, we'll still have plenty of time to get farther away."

I raised my eyebrows at her, surprised. "So...four whole minutes to spare." A four-minute window was hardly a close call for SG-1.

"Yeah." She plucked at an invisible loose thread on her BDUs.

"So, when you said we were cutting it close, you really meant you were worried you wouldn't get to see it."

She smiled then. A big, brilliant, beautiful smile. "You know me so well," she said, looking up at me at last. Suddenly, she was my Sam again.

Whoa. My Sam? My thoughts were getting ahead of me. Nevertheless, I couldn't ignore the fact that her smile made me feel like I wasn't alone anymore. I took a step forward and placed my hand gently on her arm.

Gradually, Sam's smile disappeared. She looked up at me with an expression I couldn't quite pinpoint and what looked like a question in her eyes.

"We'd better get back to the bridge," she said, abruptly pulling away and heading for the door.

I watched her close herself down again, effectively shutting me out. She stepped into the hallway and disappeared from view.

And I'd never felt more alone in my entire life.

Forcing myself to shake it off, I followed Sam up to the pel'tak.

"Now," Jack was saying, grinning from ear to ear. "Imagine what would have happened if I hadn't found the tactical console! Or if we had to wait three whole seconds for this thing to come out of the floor to return fire! This whole situation could have turned to crap really quickly."

"Indeed," said Teal'c.

Jacob was looking back and forth between me and Sam expectantly. Though I had no idea what he was expecting.

I glanced at Sam and saw she was meeting her father's gaze steadily. "We should do a full check on sensors before we come out of hyperspace."

"Good idea." Jacob nodded. "Teal'c, you have the helm."

Teal'c nodded solemnly as Jacob walked over to his daughter. He slung his arm over her shoulders as they headed for the door.

"Well?" I heard Jacob ask Sam quietly. She just elbowed him in the ribs, and they disappeared around the corner.

Too many long minutes of being annoyed by a very bored Jack later, Sam and Jacob came back to the pel'tak. It was time to come out of hyperspeed.

Jacob activated the ship's long-range sensors immediately. The star system we had just left was displayed on the screen. A minute later, several distortions appeared. "That would be the arrival of Apophis's fleet," Jacob said. "Right on time."

Sam checked her watch. "If my calculations are correct, the sun should go nova in three min—" Her voice cut off abruptly as the star erupted in a brilliant flash of light. Then the display screen went blank. "Or, it could go right now." She glanced sharply at her dad. "Did you—?"

"It was recording from the moment we came out of hyperspace."

She flashed him a relieved smile.

Jacob pressed a few buttons and the display came back to life. He played back the last few seconds of sensor data in slow motion. "Sensors went blind from the nova's energy blast, but there are no indications of any subspace windows being opened beforehand."

Jack squinted at the display. "And that means...?"

"That means none of the ships in Apophis's fleet jumped to hyperspeed before the explosion. There's no way a mothership could have survived that blast." Jacob looked at each of us, a slow grin spreading over his face. "Apophis is dead. Tanith is dead. Vorash and all the other planets in that star system have been destroyed."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," said Jack. "But I believe this is the first Tok'ra mission that's ever actually gone according to plan."

Jacob crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't think I'd go that far, Jack."

"Of course," Jack continued. "You wouldn't have been able to do it without our ship."

Jacob just smiled. "This is a good day."

"It is indeed a glorious victory," said Teal'c.

"Don't tell me you're finally coming around to our way of thinking." Jack gave Jacob a nudge on the shoulder. "Taking a little more of an active role in fighting the Goa'uld?"

"The defeat of Apophis will create a power void that will have the Goa'uld in chaos for years to come as the remaining System Lords fight amongst themselves. Getting them preoccupied with infighting again is good, Jack. As long as they're trying to kill each other in their struggle for power, we can resume our efforts to undermine their control from the inside."

Jack rolled his eyes.

"It's a strategy that's worked for us for—"

"Thousands of years," interrupted Jack. "Yeah, I know. Let's go pick up your people."

As Jacob entered the coordinates for Revanna, I stole a glance at Sam. I wanted to get her alone again. I wanted to find another excuse to hold her in my arms. For the two of us to fall to the floor again in a fit of hysterical laughter for no reason at all. To be close to her again.

But between our ongoing flying lessons, all of the ship's systems to learn, and Sam analysing the data from her supernova, we all had plenty to do. There would be time to talk to her as soon as we had a moment alone.

**To be concluded...  
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	7. Epilogue

**-- Epilogue -- **

Well, I certainly couldn't complain about how empty the ship was anymore. We'd picked up the Tok'ra from Revanna. It hadn't taken long to move what little gear they had taken with them to that planet. Much of their equipment was still stored in our cargo holds. As was Revanna's stargate, now. It would be installed on the planet the Tok'ra had chosen for their new base.

When we completed this mission, they'd be able to establish a more permanent base on a planet that wasn't on any Goa'uld charts. According to Dad, the trip would take nearly two weeks at our maximum speed.

And there were people everywhere.

I didn't mind, though. It meant I didn't have any time to worry about ridiculous things like how the ship reminded me of my cell in Cronus's base or how my heart would flutter every time Daniel so much as came near me.

The ships that'd been observing Vorash's sun had been able to gather more data on the activity within the star leading up to the explosion than we had. It hadn't taken me long to realise that it could literally take years to analyse all of it. There were already so many commonly held theories that the data could blow right out of the water.

In the meantime, Dad and several other Tok'ra were making good on their promise to teach us how to use the Ha'tak. Piloting and engineering lessons filled most of our days. The technology was amazing, and I was anxious to learn more.

Things on the ship were pretty busy, and I didn't see much of Daniel. But that didn't mean he wasn't on my mind. I kept going back to what had happened just before we released the gate into Vorash's sun. I could have sworn he'd been about to kiss me.

Dad certainly wasn't letting up on his matchmaking attempts. Selmak must be quite the romantic. That was the only reason I could come up with to explain his recent behaviour.

And, even though I hadn't really had a chance to digest my own feelings yet, I still couldn't help hoping that he'd succeed.

--------------------------------

As far as I could tell, Sam was back to her usual self and not acting strangely around me any longer. But it was hard to say for sure, since the constant activity on the ship made it hard for us to have time together. Either way, it was good to be busy.

Apparently, I was doing very well in my flying lessons. I could hardly believe it when I was put in charge of the helm one morning. For six whole hours, I was in full control of a ship flying tens of thousands of times the speed of light.

We definitely seemed to be learning faster than the Tok'ra had expected. Despite that fact, Jack was still turning down continuous suggestions that we leave the Ha'tak with them. He'd even started wearing a makeshift sign around his neck that read 'No, I will not give you my ship' – to curb further requests, he said.

Jacob has been making repeated comments about me and Sam working on that device that was still stored away in one of the cargo holds of our Ha'tak. He even reminded General Hammond when we contacted him from Revanna that he wanted to borrow us for a while after we finished relocating the Tok'ra. It was nice to be needed. And I was really looking forward to the chance to work side-by-side with Sam on a new project.

Well, okay, I was really looking forward to the chance to _be_ side-by-side with Sam.

**THE END****  
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**_Author's note:_** Don't worry, folks. It doesn't really end there. This is just the end of the second story in the trilogy. Stay tuned, as the first chapter of _Entwined Hearts_ will be posted soon(ish)!


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